Protest

Like Mutual Aid, Protest as community care involves recognizing institutional shortcomings. Protest is an expression of dissent — often with the goal and power to reform opinion and policy. Without Protest, there is no Pride. 

Underground uprising

Protest has been and continues to be a vital tool to fight gay oppression. Throughout the 20th century, anti-cross-dressing laws and anti-homosexual conduct laws enabled police to enforce gender normativity and target gay people for harassment and violence. It wasn’t until Lawrence vs. Texas in 2003 that Texas sodomy laws were declared federally unconstitutional. In his dissent, Justice Anton Scalia wrote that the court “largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda”. Even today there are scores of homophobic Texas state laws that, if the U.S. supreme court had not declared them unconstitutional, would outlaw gay sex, the laud of homosexuality in schools, and adoption rights for gay parents.

Before the late 60s, most of queer culture existed underground out of necessity, due to the criminalization of gay people. Discreet gay bars were vital to gay culture’s existence. In 1958, Austin had one gay bar in the backroom of the Manhattan Deli at 905 Congress Ave. Safety was met with brevity as gay spaces were regularly raided by police. A turning point came in the summer of 1969 with the Stonewall riots, when a crowd led by trans women of color fought back against a police raid in New York. Stonewall marked a turning point for the gay movement and empowered organizers to radicalize. Around that time in Austin, a group of friends in an old house at 105 Neches St. were forming a co-op that would later become the Gay Liberation Front.

LGBTQ+ Organizing in Austin

Gay organizing in Austin took off after 1970. The Gay Liberation Front, seen by some as an Austin branch of the larger anti-war, pro-civil rights movement, fought to have its organization recognized and respected at the University of Texas. It wasn’t until 1974 that a federal court recognized their constitutional right to organize on campus. In the decades that followed, gay organizing in Austin continued to grow.

The anti-gay housing measure of 1982

In 1982 Austin became a battleground over housing discrimination rights. A group called the Austin Citizens for Decency raised a 27,000 signature petition to adopt a proposal that would make it legal for landlords to refuse tenants on the basis of their sexuality. The backlash against this initiative was massive. A group called Citizens for a United Austin, spearheaded by Janna Zumbrum, campaigned fiercely and succeeded in getting the referendum rejected when it came up for public vote.

1992 RNC Houston protest

In 1992, over 2,000 Act Up protesters gathered at the Republican National Convention at the Houston Astrodome to march against the Bush administration’s negligent response to the AIDS epidemic. The peaceful demonstration ultimately ended in police brutality.

None are free unless all are free

Stonewall was a riot against police harassment and brutality. While the fight for gay liberation has forged ahead since 1969, many of its leaders- namely Black and brown trans people- continue to be disproportionately subject to violence and hardships at the hands of transphobic, white supremacist institutions. In the midst of a Pride celebration that has grown more and more commercialized in recent years, the fact remains truer than ever that gay liberation is impossible without combatting exclusion both within and outside of our own community.

Want to know more?

Check out this 2019 documentary ‘Are You Proud’ by Ashley Joiner which documents the history and enduring need for Pride Protests and Marches.