On Monday night New York City gathered outside the historic Stonewall Inn to mourn the horrific mass-shooting that took place days earlier at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Christopher Street and the surrounding blocks were completely packed with thousands of people, and yet there was a prolonged quiet throughout much the crowd. A woman cried by the vigil created in the square, lamenting as she saw the name of her fallen family member written in chalk. LGBTQ Pride and Puerto Rican flags waved simultaneously.
Spectators watched from fire escapes and windows of nearby apartment buildings as chants of “love beats hate” and “say their names” spread through the crowd.
The deep sadness of the evening turned to downright anger, especially when the Democratic Party elite attempted to co-opt the message of this moment. Some spoke against gun-violence in the abstract, while others clearly came for the camera time. As Governor Cuomo spoke, Julian, a young trans person spoke out angrily and stepped in front of the cameras focusing on the governor: “Cuomo is getting political points at a time when so many continue oppressing us.” NYPD officers roughly threw her out.
Others began chanting “B-D-S” in opposition to Cuomo’s recent (unconstitutional) declaration that the State of New York would boycott those who boycott Israel.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, a champion of Broken Windows policing and defender of those who killed Eric Garner (among other victims), was barely audible over the boo’s and shouting.
These were inspiring moments of struggle, reflecting the people’s consciousness about how the political establishment is spinning the dialogue away from the root cause of this tragedy. One attendee, Jumaata Poe, told Liberation News, “[They are] invoking really poisonous, violent patriotism, sticking to the patriarchy that caused this.”
At the end of the vigil, attendees were upset that so much time had been spent on politicians, rather than the victims themselves. Some held candles and sobbed as the names of the victims were recited by different LGBTQ folks in attendance. Each name was met with the Spanish cry of “Presente!” from the crowd who at this point were mainly young women of color.
The people in the streets embraced the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s signs expressing solidarity with Orlando and opposing both homophobia and Islamophobia.
Monica Cruz of the PSL said, “The LGBTQ community is in mourning but also fighting back. Hate violence remains routine nationwide, and the religious right-wing have launched a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation across many states. Trump and the right-wing are trying to hijack this moment of pain in the name of anti-Muslim policies. The Democratic Party politicians are trying to redirect the feelings of pain and injustice to their own electoral games. You can see here tonight that people instinctively reject both of them. The system that produces so much violence and bigotry must be changed.”
Poe remarked: “I think about the irony of that word ‘Freedom.’ ‘Freedom’ is tattooed over everything in this country, in our Constitution. I feel like I need a new word because ‘freedom’ doesn’t cut it any more.”
After the names of the victims were read, a group of around 50 protesters took to the streets and marched down Christopher Street to the West Side Highway piers, were many LGBTQ people of color hang out.
Police attempted to stop the march but protesters rightfully exercised their rights, and marched successfully while building with each other and others in the community along the way.
