On June 13, the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation marched in the Christopher Street West LA Pride Parade, which celebrated its 40th anniversary.
A large contingent of people marched as hundreds of thousands of people looked on. The ANSWER and PSL contingent was led by a banner that demanded “Marriage equality now! Repeal Prop. 8 in the streets,” along with our militant chanting such as “What do we want? Equal rights! When? Now!” and “Gay, straight, Black, white, marriage is a civil right!” These chants got the crowd cheering and chanting along with us. As the contingent passed by, spectators jumped out of the crowd and joined us in the march.
LA Pride was named in celebration of and solidarity with the 1969 Stonewall rebellion on Christopher Street in New York’s West Village. This uprising strengthened the gay liberation movement, giving it political shape and force. One year after Stonewall, organizers from New York and Los Angeles worked together to bring pride parades to both coasts.
New York organizers were denied a permit from the city, so it went from a parade to a march. New Yorkers took to the streets with their message of never forgetting the uprising that happened a year before. The marched ended with a “gay-in” at Central Park.
The organizers in Los Angeles had an uphill battle to get their permit. During this time the police chief posed the question, “Did you know that being gay was unlawful in the state of California?”
Los Angeles then had its first pride parade June 28, 1970. It took place on Hollywood Boulevard starting at Highland, turning east to Vine Street, and then back again. The streets were filled with floats and marching contingents from different gay organizations. One float in particular shocked and stunned the crowed as it drove past. It featured a young man strapped on a cross and a banner that read, “In memory of those killed by the Pigs.” A gay liberation group chanted, “Two, four, six, eight, gay is just as good as straight!”
Decades later, in 2008, masses of people—LGBT and straight—were in the streets fighting for same-sex marriage rights. California’s bigoted Prop. 8 passed with support from conservative evangelical and right-wing forces, which used vast sums of money and scare tactics to push it through.
This year, although the movement is in a different place, the crowd at LA Pride was no less supportive of the call for marriage equality now.
The PSL will be there every year to bring militancy back into pride. We will never forget the past and fight for the future.
Repeal Prop. 8! Full equality for all!
