Queer Rising
The Closet of Our Oppression
Why don’t you see it?
Why don’t you feel it?
I don’t know
I don’t know
—Nina Simone, "Mississippi Goddamn"
My name is Jake and I have been graciously asked to host an edition on Queer Rising, an activist group that demands full equality for all queer people through nonviolent direct action. My goal here is threefold. First, it’s probably prudent of me to share a little context of who we are and when we began. Second, I want to share with you our hidden agenda. Third, in the words of Harvey Milk, "I want to recruit you" to rise up with us.
Let’s hit it.
Context-
We are simply a diverse group of individuals who have each experienced some radicalizing moment that woke us up to the inequality and oppression we face as queer people and made fighting against these forces a deeply personal necessity.
For some, the radicalizing moment was spurred by the AIDS crisis, witnessing the loss of so many loved ones as the rest of the world remained silent. For others, it was brought on by the knowledge that our parents voted against our own civil rights. For other still, it was induced by the passage of Prop 8 in California, on the same day that our country elected its first African American President, understanding for the first time what it feels like to be less than equal.
We first gathered in mid-December of 2009 at the LGBT Center in Manhattan, still reeling from Prop 8 and freshly stung by the New York State Senate’s vote against Marriage Equality. To be sure, not all present believed or were interested in fighting for Marriage Equality, but we were all angry and frustrated.
We were tired of one or two powerhouse LGBT organizations setting our movement’s agenda and negotiating behind closed doors. We were tired of supporting politicians who led us to believe they would support us and then voted against us. We were tired of going to rallies and marches that led nowhere. We were tired of a world of activism that was limited to the world of Facebook. Change was not happening fast enough and we were tired of being told to wait. We all felt an urgent need to do something with our anger that would be effective.
By the end of our meeting, we identified our first direct action target: New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate, a Democrat who had said he would support Marriage Equality but, when the time came, voted against it. Moreover, he had recently been convicted of misdemeanor assault charges for "unintentionally injuring girlfriend Karla Giraldo while dragging her through his apartment lobby."
Just a few days later, we crashed Monserrate’s Christmas party and turned it into a one year anniversary of him slashing his girlfriend’s face with glass. In front of hundreds of people, we yelled, "Hiram believes marriage is between a man, a woman and a broken bottle!" You can watch the video of that first action here. (The quality is not great, but it gets the message across.)
Several Other Queer Rising Actions:
-National Freedom to Marry Day Protest at NYC Marriage Bureau, to protest marriage inequality. 4 activists, including myself, get arrested for chaining themselves to marriage bureau. February 12th, 2010
-Protesting Uganda’s "Kill the Gays" bill at the Uganda House in NYC. February 4th, 2010.
-Crashing NY State Senator Addabbo’s birthday fundraising party, to call attention to fact that LGBTQ people donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign and he was the first Democrat to vote "no" for marriage equality. You can also click here for an article about the action. May 27th, 2010. Every week, members go to NY State Senate community board meetings to introduce ourselves to the community and let them know who their Senators voted against, when they voted against marriage equality.
-Working with LGBTQ Latino community in Jackson Heights, Queens (particularly the transgender community) to help improve the police relations. People are regularly stopped by police, asked to show identification for no apparent reason, are often falsely arrested for prostitution, etc.
We collaborate with other activist groups, such as Get EQUAL, Marriage Equality New York, the LGBTQ Equality Coalition of Queens, Anti-Violence Project, Make the Road, the New York Civil Liberties Union, Take Back Pride and ACT UP NY.
Here is a video compiled by compiled by Jo Ann Santangelo of Get EQUAL’s May 2nd Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Rally at the White House, which QR member Justin Elzie MC’d and 4 QR Members got arrested (Natasha Dillon, Iana DiBona, Alan Bounville and Nora Camp).
Get Equal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Rally from Jo Ann Santangelo on Vimeo.
Hidden Agenda – Or, Why We Do What We Do:
A story. Last summer, I was out to dinner with a dear friend who is also gay. (Why do I feel the need to say that he is also white? Read on, and you tell me.) This was several months before the birth of Queer Rising, but I had been active in various venues for a few years and my passion was growing. And my friend did not seem to have very much at all in this area, to put it generously. So I said, "I have a question for you. You’re gay. You know that we don’t have the same legal rights as other people. You know that LGBT people can be fired in most states for their sexual orientation and/or gender expression. We’re oppressed! I don’t mean to judge you, I’m just very curious to know, why don’t you do anything?" And he gave me a very interesting answer. He said, "Well, I guess I know all these things. But I live my life as I want to, without any problems. I am completely open to my family and they are 100% supportive. I go to work where everybody knows I’m gay, I go to the gym, I see my friends. It’s exactly the same as my straight friends. It feels very weird to hear you say that I’m oppressed because, while I guess I am, I certainly don’t feel like I am." This resonates with me and I think it points to the real need for Queer Rising’s work. Yes, we demand queer rights through direct action and are fighting for full federal equality. But we know that our audience, to whom we are really directing the message of our actions, is not politician we are attacking, or the bigot whose mind we will never change. Our audience is made up of people in the movable middle, people like my friend who expresses his support and encouragement for what I do, but really does nothing himself. Our audience is made up of people who thank me for the work I do, as if that were an excuse for them not to do it themselves. These are the people we are trying to reach because we know that our movement is nothing more than who is in the room planning with us and who is on the street fighting with us. We understand that our impact and power could be so much greater if these types of people, who currently limit their action to poking "Likes" on Facebook or any other kind of amiable support, went a few steps further and took the leap to fight with us.
So what does Queer Rising really do? We do our best to give other people their moments of radicalization. We engage in creative, provocative direct actions with a focused message to spread attention to and knowledge about an issue – to people who can learn to care more than they already do. Doing this, we hope to make people less comfortable in their day-to-day lives and more compelled to act.
Rise Up With Us!
So join us. We meet every Sunday in New York City. Email us at queerrising@gmail.com to find out more information. (There are also groups in Albany and Boston.) Also, join us on Sunday, June 27th at New York City’s Gay Pride where we will March to Cure H.A.T.E. (Homophobia and Transphobia Everywhere). Check out our Facebook Event Page to learn more!
Finally:
Let me know your thoughts! I’d love this to start a conversation.