Fifty years on

Happy Pride month to everyone! This June commemorates the Stonewall riots 50 years ago that helped catalyze increased rights for LGBT people in the US. It also commemorates four years since marriage equality was upheld by the Supreme Court.

I’m fortunate to live in a time and place where I can be relatively out in my personal and professional life and can live without threat of physical harm or routine verbal assaults. That unfortunately isn’t the case for everyone, and I’ve become aware of quite a few instances of outright homophobia and violence against LGBT people over the last month. For example:

-   A police officer and pastor in Tennessee expressed his vile opinion that LGBT people should be executed by the government.

-   Pastors in Florida organized a “Make America Straight Again” rally where speakers included virulent anti-LGBT positions.

-   A young gay scientist on Twitter reported that his partner had been surrounded and verbally taunted by 5 teenagers in a bathroom in Dallas, Texas.

-   There have been over 10 reported murders of transgender people this calendar year, and transgender people of color have been particularly targeted.

-   There has been a decline in the percentage of young adults comfortable with LGBT people over the last few years.

These instances of homophobia and intolerance are indicative of pervasive discrimination against LGBT people. Marriage equality notwithstanding, we are far from equal treatment of all people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, either across the US or across the world. Consider that:

-   In the majority of US states, it is still perfectly legal to fire an LGBT person or deny them housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

-   There is no federal law to protect LGBT people from discrimination although the US House has recently passed the Equality Act.

-   Although LGBT people comprise only about 4% of the population, FBI statistics from 2017 show that they are the target of over 16% of documented hate crimes in the US.

-   The current US administration has successfully implemented a ban on transgender individuals in the military, reversing recent progress made regarding inclusion in the armed forces.

-   Homosexual activity is illegal in almost half of the nations on Earth, with severe punishments such as death in some cases.

The Stonewall riots 50 years ago in New York occurred because LGBT people had reached a breaking point. I don’t condone violence, but human beings will act in self defense when oppression becomes severe enough. Annual pride celebrations emerged as reminders of the Stonewall riots, and though they have become overridden with commercial opportunism as much as anything recently, they are still a powerful opportunity for LGBT people to gather with allies and celebrate the advances that have been made.

In light of how much anti-LGBT sentiment still exists in the world, perhaps the lesson 50 years after Stonewall is that we can never take progress on civil rights for granted. The US is seeing a resurgence in all manner of regressive attitudes, including racism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and political intolerance. To build a prosperous society, we must resist the pull of xenophobia and intolerance, and advocate for a world in which differences are seen as enriching our collective humanity.

The San Francisco Pride parade in 2015, just days after marriage equality was affirmed by the US Supreme Court.