On June 17, members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and ANSWER Coalition took to the streets and gave a radical voice back to a day of Stonewall remembrance in Wilton Manors, Florida.
The Stonewall Pride Parade is often overshadowed by corporate advertising and cars plastered with banners driven by Democratic members of congress. They do little for the community after our LGBTQ votes have been submitted under false promises and a continuation of the same oppressions many of the families of our murdered transgender sisters know so well.
The Stonewall Rebellion began when transgender women led the fight to hold back police interference and arrests in what should have been a regular night of fun in a safe space. Like many such nights, the militant police force felt it necessary to show brute force to oppress the LGBTQ community, an already vulnerable segment of society, on June 28, 1969.
Police raids of this community were so common then that the police did not expect a rebellion. What we call Stonewall today remembers the multi-day action that proved the LGBTQ community would no longer take abuse and oppression, thus beginning a new era.
Today we celebrate their action with Pride Parades all across the nation. On Saturday, our PSL comrades marched and shouted with passion for the future we see coming: “Stonewall means, fight back! Equality means, fight back!”
Passing out People’s Congress of Resistance information to excited onlookers who chanted along, we prepared for the next era of comrades to join in the fight. This is not just a remembrance—this is a new beginning.
