June in Review:

TW: Black d*eath, police m*rder

Typically a month of pride and celebration, June 2020 has been marked by a pandemic, protests and a myriad of change.

Pride celebrations today are often attributed to the Stonewall Uprising of June 28, 1969. After Stonewall Inn, a popular LGBT nightclub in Greenwich Village, was raided by police, a violent uprising ensued. Coins, bottles, stones and other detritus were hurled at officers as patrons were manhandled and assaulted by police. Five days of violent protests followed the June 28 raid, as Queer folx took to the streets in protest of the oppression they faced by law enforcement and civilians.

Two of the most famous members of the Stonewall Uprising were Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two trans women of colour. These two women later went on to found the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) organization, which provided housing for homeless LGBT youth. Johnson and Rivera continued to participate in protests and marches that would later be known as Pride movements.

As a result of Covid-19, Pride looks very different this year. Global Pride has organized an online celebration which will feature many famous Queer performers such as Kesha, Adam Lambert, and Laverne Cox, as well as Prime Minister Trudeau and former Vice President Biden.

However, despite a star-studded lineup for online Global Pride, June was not a month of celebration. Protests following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 continued into June as the world mourned the loss of yet another Black person’s life at the hands of a White cop. George Floyd was arrested and killed by Minneapolis Police for allegedly being in possession of a counterfeit $20 bill. Derek Chauvin, a White police officer, pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, ultimately leading to his death.

The death of George Floyd is not the first murder of a Black man at the hands of a White cop. However, George Floyd’s death has caused a global shift, and the Black Lives Matter movement has taken the world by storm. Of course, this change in mentality should have happened years ago. So why now?

Black Lives Matter was founded in July of 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman. “Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.” (Black Lives Matter, 2020).

Injustice against Black and African American people has been prevalent in North America since 1619, when the first slave ship of kidnapped Africans landed on what would eventually be American soil. No facet of North American life is untainted by the injustice and oppression Black people have faced over the last 400 years.

When the protests following George Floyd’s murder made no sign of slowing down, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community knew that this was their battle as well. Queer people of colour were among the pioneers of Pride, and the Queer community of 2020 unanimously decided to honour the Marshas and Sylvias of yesterday by standing with their BIPOC brothers and sisters today.

Although June has brought heartache, anger, struggle and injustice, this past month has also brought people together. People of all races, religions and identities are marching together to demand justice, system change, and equality for all.

This battle will not be easy, but if this past month is any indication, it is one that we will keep fighting, until the fight is won.

By: Sophia Krause

June 26, 2020

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