Commemorate Stonewall with activism, not tourism

New York City is commemorating the 40th anniversary of Stonewall by asking wealthy LGBTQ folks to make a “Rainbow Pilgrimage” to the city. (See poster at right.) Meanwhile, the city has refused to fund shelters that serve homeless queer youth. As a statement from Queers for Economic Justice puts it:

The campaign’s website encapsulates Stonewall in a nostalgic distant light; a movement of the past now best found in a culture of style, restaurants and hot new clubs that are profiled in the ad campaign. The past violence and homophobia is replaced by the promise of a New York experience akin to Sex In The City. Further denying the violence of that fateful night in June, the Rainbow Pilgrimage describes the West Village as having a “population [that] has matured and neighborhood scene [that] has quieted along with it.”

But that “quiet” has come at a cost to poor and working class queers today.

The statement goes on to list the many ways low-income, working-class and homeless queer New Yorkers continue to face harassment, discrimination, and violence — in shelters, in police custody, and in public.
But New York City Council members don’t think by such trivial details have much to do with the Stonewall anniversary.

City officials found little remarkable in using an event associated with violence and resistance as the centerpiece of a marketing campaign.

“I don’t think it’s ironic, I think it’s significant,” said Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, who is openly gay, at a news conference announcing the campaign. “You know, 40 years ago a group of people said enough was enough. And they struck back against police officers. They struck back against unfair treatment.”

“And,” she added, “it created the modern L.G.B.T. civil rights movement.”

Note that she did not say, “it created the modern LGBT party circuit” or “it created the modern LGBT tourism industry.” (Umm… disconnect?)
Queers for Economic Justice rightly points out that the way to commemorate Stonewall is to support organizations and efforts that continue in that spirit today. To that end, here are some great causes to support:

• Sylvia’s Place
• FIERCE
• Audre Lorde Project

Of course that doesn’t mean we have to mark the Stonewall anniversary in only a somber fashion, or only by donating to these organizations. But I do think it’s important to remember, as Jaclyn said in her speech at the Boston Dyke March, that the first Stonewall wasn’t a rave — it was a riot.