Aphrochic Magazine: Issue No. 7

HOT TOPIC
Pride and Protest: What should Pride Look Like?
Pride marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, multiple demonstrations as
a result of police violence at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. In the
early hours of June 28, 1969, Stonewall patrons and community members clashed with
police after officers stormed the bar, arresting, violating, and beating people as part
of their routine raids on queer establishments. The escalation turned into two days
of rebellion and protest, and what is considered to be one of the greatest movements
in queer liberation.
As a result we have Pride, a month of
parades across the world that celebrate
LGBTQIA2S+ history, identity, and progress.
Today, Pride looks vastly different from the
early demonstrations. Pride Parades are
sponsored events, with police presence and
celebrity guests. In America, Pride season
has become a mainstream and commodified
time, a revisionist history of what has been a
difficult half century. It is a premature party
during a very precarious moment.
Surprisingly (to myself at least), I have
only been to one Pride Parade. While the
Dykes on Bikes got me misty-eyed, I was
disappointed by the corporations skipping
by, offering stickers and merch in hopes of
gaining my attention, trust, and ultimately
my patronage. Many companies change
their logo to rainbow for Pride month,
and stores start stocking Pride gear. From
ugly T-shirts, to Pride ads, to sponsoring
parades, the June market is saturated
by companies vying for approval and
influence. When I first came out, this development
was exciting. I used a rainbow
logo as a measure of progression, representation,
and safety. But this pink or
rainbow washing starts June 1st and ends
on the 30th. These corporations brush their
actively discriminatory histories under the
rainbow rug and continue to support homophobic
causes and politicians the rest
of the year. The LGBTQ+ community is only
another identity to exploit profit off of.
Rainbow capitalism is just one example
of the way Pride is devalued. In the US, pride
celebrates markers of “progress” including
marriage equality, the repeal of Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell, and other legislation. These
moments should be recognized, however
they do less to mark queer liberation and
point more to an assimilation into heteronormative
establishments and their respectability.
This progress is only relevant to
a small portion of the queer community. Is it
time to celebrate when the history of criminalization
and the AIDS crisis is so recent?
When 44 trans people were murdered
in 2020 and 29+ already this year; where
20%-40% of homeless youth identify as
LGBTQ+; where transwomen of color are
subject to high levels of police violence; and
where queer people are more likely to be
assaulted or take their own lives? We have
more work to do.
One thing that the Stonewall Uprising
and current Pride parades have in common
Words by Ruby Brown
Photos by Leandro Justen
106 aphrochic issue seven 107