Reclaiming Stonewall

Anniversaries are occasions for remembrance, even pride and celebration, but they should also be moments of reckoning, which offer us the opportunity to reflect critically on where we come from, where we are, and where we go from here. 

To help us reckon with the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, The Nation invited a remarkable group of LGBTQ activists, artists, and academics to reflect on its many legacies. Ranging in age from 23 to 88 years old, the participants in “Reclaiming Stonewall” represent the stunning diversity of our community across generations. Combining the personal and the political, this collection of living queer histories is something of an archive of our moment, when many of us are grappling with what might be called the paradox of progress: the coexistence of important changes—in courtrooms and legislatures, hearts and minds—with seemingly intractable challenges.

As we reckon with the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, let us heed all these voices and ask, “What still needs to be done?” If the legacy and inheritance of Stonewall mean anything, it’s that our fight is far from over and that our collective struggle for liberation—for everyone—must continue.
—Timothy Patrick McCarthy

Trans women protest

Eleven Black Trans Women Have Been Murdered This Year. It’s Time for Another Uprising. Eleven Black Trans Women Have Been Murdered This Year. It’s Time for Another Uprising.

A recent survey of black communities in America found that for transgender people, the threat of violence is the biggest concern.

Jul 3, 2019 / Alicia Garza

How Stonewall Veteran Jay Toole’s Life Has Changed Since the Riots—and How It Hasn’t

How Stonewall Veteran Jay Toole’s Life Has Changed Since the Riots—and How It Hasn’t How Stonewall Veteran Jay Toole’s Life Has Changed Since the Riots—and How It Hasn’t

Toole sees Stonewall as a turning point for the LGBTQ movement, but not for everyone in it.

Jul 2, 2019 / Feature / Naomi Gordon-Loebl

Bamby Salcedo

There Can Be No Queer Liberation Without Trans Liberation There Can Be No Queer Liberation Without Trans Liberation

For 50 years, Trans people have been pushed and shoved to the side of the LGBTQ movement. That ends now.

Jul 2, 2019 / Bamby Salcedo

Stonewall Inn

What Happened to the Radical Spirit of the Stonewall Rebels? What Happened to the Radical Spirit of the Stonewall Rebels?

The movement for LGBTQ rights has been domesticated, its goals refocused on marriage and family. It can be so much more.

Jun 30, 2019 / Katherine Franke

rainbow flag military

I Was Kicked Out of the Military for Being Gay I Was Kicked Out of the Military for Being Gay

Now, almost a decade after the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the fight for equality continues for trans service members.

Jun 30, 2019 / Tony Woods

Stonewall Inn interior

It Doesn’t Matter Who Threw the First Brick at Stonewall It Doesn’t Matter Who Threw the First Brick at Stonewall

Infighting over ownership of the riots obscures their significance as a messy, spontaneous, diverse rebellion.

Jun 30, 2019 / Morgan M. Page

Bi pride flag

Bisexuality Has Always Challenged Norms—Even in the Queer World Bisexuality Has Always Challenged Norms—Even in the Queer World

Let’s use the 50th anniversary of Stonewall to embrace the full spectrum of our differences and desires.

Jun 29, 2019 / Robyn Ochs

Stonewall sign

Stonewall Proved That Resistance Is Always Possible Stonewall Proved That Resistance Is Always Possible

With reactionary politics ascendant around the world, we should seek inspiration from those who fought oppression at the Stonewall Inn.

Jun 29, 2019 / Susan Stryker

Act Up

ACT UP Changed Everything ACT UP Changed Everything

The HIV/AIDS protest group was the first great leap for the queer movement after Stonewall.

Jun 29, 2019 / Jim Hubbard

Indian Queer Pride

The Enduring Harm of the West’s Moral Crusades The Enduring Harm of the West’s Moral Crusades

On Stonewall’s 50th anniversary, the US should reconsider its global war against sex work.

Jun 28, 2019 / Siddharth Dube

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