Subject of the Month: 2025

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June's Subject of the Month

Queer Resistance & Liberation

photo credit: Boston Preservation Alliance


"In trans women's eyes, I see a wisdom that can only come from having to fight for your right to be recognized as female, a raw strength that only comes from unabashedly asserting your right to be feminine in an inhospitable world."

-Julia Serano

Queer Liberation is a movement that challenges systemic queer oppression, amplifies the voices and needs of marginalized LGBTQIA2S+ communities, and rejects corporate sponsorship and police involvement. From Stonewall roots to house down boots, Queer Liberation's influence can be seen all over the world, even in Detroit! The purpose of this guide is to illustrate some of the works, core tenets, and history of the movement.

An inscription which reads "Gene Compton's Cafeteria Riot 1966 Here marks the site of Gene Compton's Cafeteria where a riot took place one August night when transgender women and gay men stood up for their rights and fought against police brutality, poverty, oppression and discrimination in the Tenderloin.  We the transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual community, are dedicating this plaque to these heroes of our civil rights movement.  Dedicated June 22, 2006"

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Marsha P. Johnson

A photograph of Marsha P Johnson

"Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Always sporting a smile, Johnson was an important advocate for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, those effected by H.I.V. and AIDS, and gay and transgender rights."

"Johnson’s life changed when she found herself engaging with the resistance at The Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969. In the early morning hours, police raided the bar and began arresting the patrons, most of whom were gay men. Johnson and Rivera arrived at Stonewall around 2am where, Johnson said in a later interview, “the place was already on fire, and there was a raid already. The riots had already started.” There are many competing stories about what Johnson did during the raid on the Stonewall Inn, but it is clear she was on the front lines. Johnson, like many other transgender women, felt they had nothing to lose. They were not only angered by the police raid but also the oppression and fear they experienced every day. In the wake of the raid, Johnson and Rivera led a series of protests."

Full biography here (from the National Women's History Museum)

photo credit: Netflix, "The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson", original photographer unknown

Sylvia Rivera

A photograph of Sylvia Rivera

"A veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising, Sylvia Rivera was a tireless advocate for those silenced and disregarded by larger movements. Throughout her life, she fought against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights."

"Rivera resisted arrest and subsequently led a series of protests against the raid. Yet this was not the first time Rivera was directly involved in activism. She said in a 1989 interview that, “Before gay rights, before the Stonewall, I was involved in the Black Liberation movement, the peace movement...I felt I had the time and I knew that I had to do something. My revolutionary blood was going back then. I was involved with that.”"

Full biography here (from the National Women's History Museum)

photo credit: Bettye Lane, 1973, Bettye Lane Gay Rights Movement Photographs, New York Public Library

Stonewall Uprising

A photograph of the Stonewall Uprising

"June 28, 1969 marks the beginning of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of events between police and LGBTQ+ protesters which stretched over six days. It was not the first time police raided a gay bar, and it was not the first time LGBTQ+ people fought back, but the events that would unfold over the next six days would fundamentally change the discourse surrounding LGBTQ+ activism in the United States. While Stonewall became well known due to the media coverage and the subsequent annual Pride traditions, it was a culmination of years of LGBTQ+ activism. Historians have noted that the shift in activism, if Stonewall truly represented one at all, was a shift primarily for white cisgender people, as people of color and gender non-conforming people never truly had the benefit of concealing their marginalized identities."

"While the events of Stonewall are often referred to as "riots," Stonewall veterans have explicitly stated that they prefer the term Stonewall uprising or rebellion. The reference to these events as riots was initially used by police to justify their use of force."

Full piece here (Library of Congress LGBTQIA+ Studies research guide)

photo credit: Joseph Ambrosini, 1969, "3 Cops Hurt as Bar Raid Riles Crowd," New York Daily News

Video

Watch documentary footage of the first Pride march held in New York City on June 28, 1970, from Gay and Proud, a documentary by activist Lilli Vincenz. Courtesy of Library of Congress