Pride Is and Always Was About Rebellion. This Year More Than Ever.

Pride 2020

Dear SSW Community,

June is designated Pride month, a time for us to reflect, celebrate progress, and advocate for continued LGBTQ rights.  But this year, Pride is different in many ways. It is not our traditional time of celebration due to the current global pandemic and the call to action to support the Black Lives Matter protests and movement.  But now is a more important time than ever to remember the Pride Movement’s roots and acknowledge that Pride would not exist if it weren’t for the efforts of Black LGBTQ activists.

Rebellion in the queer community is nothing new.  Protesting police brutality and demands for equality were at the heart of the Stonewall riots in 1969 and leading the way were Black trans activists like Slyvia Rivera & Marsha P. Johnson https://www.pfaw.org/blog-posts/stonewall-at-50-honoring-marsha-p-johnson-and-sylvia-rivera-with-action/

We want to acknowledge Pride month and thank all of our LGBTQ/Queer identified students for choosing to be part of our SSW community. Our school is stronger for the talents and perspectives you bring to our community and classroom.  And to our students who specifically identify as QPOC, we see you, and will continue in the fight to disrupt and dismantle white supremacy.

For more resources that might be of interest:

Queer Pride Is Going Back to Its Protest Roots

The transgender women at Stonewall were pushed out of the gay rights movement. Now they are getting a statute in New York

Sincerely,

Lynette Studer and Amanda Ngola, Co-chairs, Committee on Diversity
Stephanie Robert, Professor and Director

Credit and thanks for some information:  Robin Matthies, them. (Instagram), & Buzzfeed (https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/black-queer-riots-built-pride)