On June 18, New York City saw a spirited #SayTheirNames March in Solidarity with Orlando. It started at Grand Central Station (site of historic ACT-UP civil disobedience in 1991) and ended at Stonewall Inn (site of the Stonewall Rebellion that launched Pride month and the modern LGBTQ movement).
Although the march was initiated as an opportunity for people to mourn together and express themselves, taking place just one week after the Orlando Massacre and passing through neighborhoods and streets that have historic resonance for the LGBTQ community, the NYPD harassed and corralled the march throughout. At one point, helmeted officers with assault rifles and bullet-proof vests seemed poised to make an arrest just 10 feet from the entrance to the LGBT Center on 13th Street — all because the march had spilled off of the sidewalk and into the street. While claiming to represent “safety,” the NYPD showed utter disrespect and insensitivity to the community by corralling, surrounding and barking orders to intimidate marchers.
After an hour of this harassment, the people finally had enough and began to chant against the NYPD. Responding to the NYPD’s claim to have a partnership with, and be part of, the LGBTQ community, organizer Michael Basillas stopped the march temporarily and said: “You cannot be a part of this community if you carry out orders to oppress this community. Some of the cops here have said they’re LGBTQ, but if you arrest us tonight when we are trying to come together and express ourselves for Orlando, this community will disown you.”
Marchers carried signs and chanted their rejection of Islamophobia and expressed unbreakable solidarity between LGBTQ people and all targeted and oppressed sectors of the population. As chant leaders listed communities under attack, the crowd replied “Stand up, fight back!” and “Orlando, we got your back!”
Many participants were attending their first march or vigil, while others had considerable experience in the Black Lives Matter movements. At the opening rally, PSL activist Stewart Stout received a strong reply when he advocated for an LGBTQ movement independent of both Republicans and Democrats, and rooted in poor and working class communities.
The March concluded with ten minutes of silence for the victims, a second reading of their names outside of Stonewall Inn and a group embrace. Many marchers spoke to the need to bring the same militant energy into next weekend’s Pride events — from the Trans Day of Action on the 24th to the massive Pride Parade on Sunday. The PSL is participating in both actions and is also organizing an LGBTQ artists’ open mic Thursday in the Bronx.
