It’s Pride month, and right now protests are happening all over the world against police brutality, racism, and anti-blackness, whilst globally we are in the midst of a viral pandemic.
Equality is a Trade Union issue. Oppression is structural, and impacts marginalised identities across all aspects of life, such as employment, housing, and healthcare. Improving working conditions and access to income for those who experience racism, sexism and gendered discrimination is a way to make meaningful change for individuals and to chip away at structural oppression.
As Pride began as a riot against police brutality led by Black women and Black trans women, we must remember who paved the way for LGBTQ rights and support those continuing the work of anti-racism, recognising that these fights are not separate. We also need to remember that protest is a legitimate form of activism and holds a historical record of creating social change.
The gender binary itself and rigid sexual norms were imposed by a white Western ideology as a necessity for the development of capitalism and the consequent exploitation of Black people and people of colour. The fluid gender expressions and cultures of Black, indigenous people and people of colour were criminalised under the British Empire and the existence of such was used as “evidence” that these cultures were somehow less developed.
This is a legacy which lasts to this day. To recognise the ways that sexuality, gender, and race intersect is an important part of honouring the history of the LGBTQ struggle and how we can support the present and future of LGBTQ rights. Learning about this is essential work for Trade Unions to undertake if they are to represent their members and fulfil the commitment to protect and further worker’s rights.
The origins of Pride
A police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in June 1969 triggered three nights of unrest, forcing LGBT people to defend themselves. Stormé DeLarverie, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson were key people in the resistance – queer and trans women of colour whose work lay the foundations for the gay rights movement.
The Christopher Street Day Parade took place on June 28 1970 in New York City as a direct result of the work of activists from Black Power, feminist, and gay liberation movements, seeing their common cause under the organisation the Gay Liberation Front.
The Christopher Street Day Parade is now called Pride. The UK followed in 1972 on 1 July, and in 1985 the National Union of Miners supported a motion promoting lesbian and gay rights at the TUC’s congress. This is turn ensured the Labour Party adopted progressive policies in opposition and later in government. Prides have continued to be marked to this day.
A memorial outside of the Stonewall Inn during pride month 2016, marking the Orlando shootings which affected Black and POC LGBT communities that year. Photo: Shutterstock
Present day Pride
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this is the first year that Pride will have zero police presence. For many this is a welcome change, considering the long history of police brutality against the LGBTQ community and the beginnings of Pride.
While many of the protests and the activism surrounding Black Lives Matter have organised around the police murder of George Floyd, Black trans people are also being remembered as victims of police brutality, like Tony McDade who was murdered two-days after George Floyd.
On the pandemic itself, a new consultation by Kaleidoscope Trust and LGBT Foundation’s ‘Hidden Figures’ each show the crisis of health inequality that coronavirus has across LGBTI+ and Black communities, a topic which our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Official John Shortell wrote about in a previous blog.
Coronavirus also isn’t the only issue impacting travel for the LGBT+ community. In many countries trans and gay people’s existence is illegal and is therefore unsafe for those to travel to, the impact of which is professional as well as personal, as explained in this news post about LGBT+ musicians travelling to Poland.
Protest works and we must continue
Remembering Pride’s radical roots helps us to appreciate the movement that is happening right now.
In New York, the Reclaim Pride Coalition’s call for “no cops, no corps” recalls both the radical birth of Pride and demands that we recognise that a queer existence is at odds with the law and capitalism.
The progress that has been made over the decades shows that protest works, but we must continue to do this work. In two weeks the Black Lives Matter protests have achieved the arrest and charge of all four cops who murdered George Floyd, and Minneapolis has committed to defunding the police and have pledged for a transformative new model of public safety, as well as banning the use of chokeholds.
There is the potential for much more if we can support the work of activists and commit to the ways that we can help the movement in both the short and long term. The MU is asking for members to join our Equality Networks to try and take this work to the next step within our union.
As well as showing up as allies at protests, can we lift Black queer voices, celebrate their joy and achievements as well? #TheShowMustBePaused called for the amplification of Black voices, and for this to have a meaningful impact it must be integrated into daily life. Listed below are some examples of people to follow, books to read, and organisations doing good work - it is our duty to make space for queer and Black lives.
If you are being treated unfairly at work because of your sexuality, gender, or any other protected characteristic – please contact your Regional Office.
Where to go for support
If you’re reading this and you would like to know where to go for support:
LGTBQ identifying, Black, Asian and minority ethnic members (as well as D/deaf & disabled Members and women) are also invited to join our different Equalities Members’ Network. Join for regular opportunities to get involved, have your say on what we do, contribute to consultation responses, and help make policy that reflect the truth.
Resources for allies
If you’re reading this as an ally, please see below for ways to help and educate yourself.
Places to donate
UK Black Pride – UK Black Pride is Europe’s largest celebration for LGBTQ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern descent.
QTIBIPOC Emergency Relief Fund – emergency relief and hardship fund that has been set up to provide short term support to Queer, Trans and Intersex, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTIBIPOC) currently living in the UK who are affected by the outbreak and ongoing shutdown caused by Covid-19.
Black Trans Lives Matter UK Support Fund – a fundraiser to seed the foundation of a support organisation that will fight to protect black trans people in London.
You may also wish to research and donate to the following:
Some people and accounts to follow
Travis Alabanza @travisalabanza – a performance artist, theatre maker, poet and writer that works and survives in London, via Bristol.
Munroe Bergdorf @munroebergdorf – Model and activist and patron of Mermaids.
Alok Vaid-Menon @alokvmenon – Alok Vaid-Menon is an Indian-American writer, performance artist, and media personality who performs under the moniker ALOK. Alok is gender non-conforming and transfeminine and uses singular they pronouns.
Other accounts to follow:
- Black Pride UK @ukblackpride
- Queer House Party @queerhouseparty
- Pxssy Palace @pxssypalace
- Lick Events @lickeventsuk
- Misery Party @miseryparty
- Galdem Zine @galdemzine
- The Queer Counselor: @the_queer_counselor
- GLAAD
- Sylvia Rivera Law Project @SRLP
- Gendered Intelligence
Articles to read
How LGBT+ Activists Transformed the Labor Movement
Trade unionists led the fight for LGBT rights, but the struggle for an equal world continues
Films to watch
Moonlight (2016) – American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on Tarell Alvin McCraney's unpublished semi-autobiographical play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. Available on YouTube, Google Play and Amazon Prime Video.
Tangerine (2015) – American comedy-drama film directed by Sean Baker, and written by Baker and Chris Bergoch, starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, and James Ransone. The story follows a transgender sex worker who discovers her boyfriend and pimp has been cheating on her. Available on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play
Young Soul Rebels (1991) – the debut feature film from director Isaac Julien, Young Soul Rebels is a fascinating look at British culture in the late 1970s. Young soul DJ Chris becomes implicated in a murder. Thei film is set in 1977, during the week of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. BFI player and Amazon Prime Video
Other films and documentaries:
- The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017), Netflix
- Sylvia Rivera: A Tribute (2011), YouTube
- We Were Here (2011), iTunes
- Milk (2008), Netflix
- Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community (1984), Amazon Prime
- Paris is Burning (1990), Netflix
- We’ve Been Around (2016)
- Vito (2011), Amazon Prime
- Blue is the Warmest Colour by Abdellatif Kechiche (2013)
- The Watermelon Woman (1996) dir. Cheryl Dunye (available on Kanopy, Amazon Prime, BFI Player
- Gay Black Group (1983) for free from BFI player
- Pariah (2011) dir. Dee Rees (Youtube, Google Play, Amazon Prime)
- The Urgency of Intersectionality – TED talk by Kimberle Crenshaw
- Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon
- Rent – Film available on Amazon Prime, Hulu, iTunes, and YouTube
- Saturday Church – film available on Amazon Prime, YouTube and Google Play
- Hedwig and the Angry Itch - Available on HBO, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Hulu, and Google Play
Petitions to sign
Justice for Tony McDade Tony McDade was a transgender black man who got killed by police in Tallahassee, USA.
UK: Reverse the decision to scrap the Gender Recognition Act 17/6/2020
UK: Tell the PM don’t roll back on Trans rights (includes the email template)