Tag: history
Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries: Survival, Revolt, and Queer Antagonist Struggle
“This is the question that is running through our minds. Do you really want Gay Power or are you looking for a few laughs or maybe a little excitement. We are not quite sure what you people really want. IF you want Gay Liberation then you’re going to have to fight for it. We don’t mean tomorrow or the next day, we are talking about today. We can never possibly win by saying “wait for a better day” or “we’re not ready yet” If you’re ready to tell people that you want to be free, then your ready to fight. And if your not ready then shut up and crawl back into your closets. But let us ask you this, Can you really live in a closet? We can’t.”
Queens, Hookers, and Hustlers: Organizing for Survival and Revolt Amongst Gender Variant Sex Workers, 1950-1970
“In the 1950s and 1960s it was illegal for biological males to wear female clothing in public. Moreover, trans folk ran the risk of arrest for both masquerading and solicitation, even if they weren’t hustling. Though it was terribly unsafe to dress in drag on most city streets, there were transgender-friendly zones in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. These zones naturally flourished where social tolerance for sexual differences was high and police interference with neighborhood life was lax or nonexistent. These edgy, eclectic spaces were dangerous, but they also fostered a sense of community among many of America’s dispossessed.”
Nihilism, Anarchy, and the 21st Century
“A definition of nihilism could be the realization that ‘the conditions in the social organization are so bad to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent of any program or constructive possibility.’ This exposes one of the greatest ideological flaws of modern activism: the articulation of the specific world-to-be as a result of your actions does not guarantee that world’s creation.”