Sunday 05.31.20
Get involved now!
Here's a list of places where you can donate
Destroying property has been an essential part of the fight for civil rights of people of color in the US. It is an expression of outrage that cannot be ignored. Black people are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of white people. And certainly the history of white supremacists murdering and torturing black people stretches further back than recorded history: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Amaud Arbery, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Keith Lamont Scott, Rodney King, Marquette Frye, Emmet Till among so many others.
Remember that everything is connected.
Angela Davis once said, “Certainly the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender movement would not have been conceptualized in the same way had it not happened against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement… “
In 1969, Stonewall was the site of riots, of destruction, of breaking windows, slashing tires, throwing bricks, and lighting fires. It was a tipping point, a moment that demanded the spotlight of the American media through brute force. And keep in mind—there is only one known photo from the first night of riots. It shows the homeless youth who slept in nearby Christopher Park in a clash with the police.
Accountability and change were won through disturbance and exposure. In 2020, smart phone cameras and viral hashtags have become the tools of public outcry. Let them know we are watching. Get involved and collect evidence of this moment. Demand a better tomorrow.
HERE’S A LIST OF PLACES WHERE YOU CAN DONATE:
BLACK LIVES MATTER. …
Wednesday 07.27.16
Rumi Missabu’s GoFundMe
The Cockette legend still needs to perform!
Beautiful weirdo Rumi Missabu is asking for our help, and when Rumi calls, we answer.
Featured in our latest issue of GAYLETTER, Rumi Missabu is one of the founding members of the Cockettes, the “acid-dowsed, anarchist drag queens who, in Rumi’s words, made a ‘brief but snazzy stand bridging the gap between the Summer of Love and the times of Harvey Milk.’” The group began in San Francisco in 1969 when a “visionary hippie” named Hibiscus gathered together 12 different performers. They began to put on a show featuring “fairy tales, show tunes and beautiful, chaotic drag while tripping on LSD.”
“We were instant stars,” Rumi says. “No one really cared if we could sing or dance; the fact that we dared to assume as much was enough. We evoked a vision of a bizarre utopia only to be found on the fringes of the mind, arranging the grotesque in scintillating homosexual, bisexual, asexual and quadric-sexual patterns, and decking it out in mocking rags and cock-flapping parody.”
Now, almost 50 years since the Cockettes began, Rumi is still a champion for performance art. He is working tirelessly to bring four artists; Bruna Palmeiro (Belle Zee Bub), Roxanne Redmeat, Donna Personna and Diego Gomez (Trangela Lansbury) from San Francisco to New York to appear in THE WITCHES OF SALEM. The performance is on October 5th at the historic Judson Memorial Church with additional shows to be announced. …
Monday 06.13.16
Anger is More Useful Than Despair: Vigil in Front of Stonewall Inn tonight
At times like these it’s easy to lose hope. Yesterday’s attack was astounding in it’s brutality. However when I feel myself falling into despair I always remind myself of this stupid, yet insightful scene from Terminator 3 (bear with me). In this particular scene the Terminator has come to rescue a young John Connor, as he is chocking on tear gas. John tells the Terminator to just leave him. He has given up. He hasn’t accepted what his mother had told him his whole life, that he is “the one,” the leader of the resistance who will save them all from the robot army. The terminator, registering his state of despair, grabs John by the neck, and lifts him off the ground:
John Connor: Just leave me here. I’m not the one you want. You’re wasting your time.
Terminator: Incorrect. John Connor leads the resistance to victory.
John Connor: How? Why? Why me?
Terminator: You are John Connor.
John Connor: Christ! My mom fed me that bullshit since the cradle! Look at me! I’m no leader! I never was! I’m never gonna…
John Connor: [is choked by Terminator]
John Connor: Let go!
Terminator: You’re right. You’re not the one I want. I’m wasting my time.
John Connor: Fuck you, you fucking machine!
Terminator: [releases John] Better.
John Connor: What, you were just dicking with me? …
Thursday 11.27.14
GIVE: The Legal Support Fund for Justice for Mike Brown
If you were at the march earlier this week in NYC against the injustice of the Michael Brown verdict in Ferguson but still feel like you can do more, here’s a great way to help. The Legal Support Fund for Justice for Mike Brown has been set up as a way to offer help to those arrested at the Ferguson protests. “Since August 9, over 200 people have been arrested while protesting Mike Brown’s death and the epidemic of police violence facing Black and Brown communities in the United States.” That’s pretty fucked right? No one should be arrested for protesting. This Thanksgiving be thankful for everything you have, and if you can, give some moola to a group, who right now, really needs it. Your donations will “provide Know Your Rights training, staff a 24-hour legal support hotline, track arrestees so they don’t get lost in the system, fundraise for legal support costs, bond people out of jail, connect defendants with pro bono attorneys, coordinate with attorneys, organize volunteers & support people who go to trial.”
Protestors for Justice for Mike BrownProtestors for Justice for Mike Brown
