Transgender Action Group For Iowa

June 28 marked the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Though the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and the affirmation of q***r love, humanity and dignity had certainly been going on for many, many years before, Stonewall is often viewed as the turning point of the modern LGBTQ+ movement. In words adapted from Rev. Otto O’Connor, here is that story:

A Holy Night in 1969
Adapted from words by Otto O'Connor

On a holy night
In 1969,
In an inn, also known as a bar,
Called the Stonewall Inn,
In a basement—
Which had no running water,
Nor safe fire exits—
Q***r people, of many colors and kinds,
Danced together,
For it was the only place in the city
Where they were allowed to dance together,
At least, permitted to, by the mafia who ran the inn.

In those days,
It was also common for the police to frequent this inn,
Not to join in the dance, the underground celebration,
But to perform raids and make arrests.
When they would arrive,
The lights would go up,
The people would be lined up,
And then
All those in drag,
All those who were trans,
The q***r youth without proper identification,
They were arrested and taken into custody.

But on this holy night,
That early morning of June 28,
The people said, “Not tonight.”
As the police ordered them to line up,
First the trans women refused to go.
And as the police began to beat and arrest them,
And as the people fled and spilled out from the bar onto the street,
Christopher Street,
A crowd grew to watch.
And then,
As trans women, q***r youth, le****ns, and gay men were getting arrested,
A yell came from the crowd, “Gay Power!”
And as a trans woman was shoved,
She shoved back,
And then she and the crowd began throwing bottles at the police wagon.

And suddenly it erupted.
For once the people didn’t line up;
For once the people said, “No more; we’ve had enough.”
It was almost as if, that night,
Being pulled out of the darkness of the underground at the Stonewall Inn
One too many times,
They said, “I demand to be seen.”

On this holy night, when the power of the oppressed rippled through the streets of New York,
When q***r people said, “No more.”
Something shifted, and our world would never be the same again.

Six decades ago,
It was illegal to be gay, to be trans,
To dance and to love and to celebrate and share that love not only openly, but even privately.
And now, fifty-seven years later,
Here we are openly celebrating that in a church.
Gay and straight together?
Q***r and allies together?
Trans and cis together?
All in this together.

And so as we hear these stories of life and love and defiance and celebration,
Let us also remember and pay tribute to our movement ancestors,

Many of them q***r youth,
Whose families and communities had turned them out on the street
And then turned their backs on them,
Who then put their young bodies on the front lines of the streets that night,
Only to be beaten and arrested,
But who endured and survived and are now our elders.

Many of them trans women of color
Who were among the first to lead the rebellion that night
And on into the following days.
And who then continued to lead the struggle for dignity and equality for decades afterward, too.
Folx like Storme DeLarverie, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Marsha P Johnson, and Sylvia Rivera.

You see, Pride arose as a celebration of that anniversary:
The anniversary of that riot, at the Stonewall Inn in New York city. A holy night.

So Happy Pride!
Welcome to this joyful celebration,
Bring your whole selves
Your gay
Le***an
Bisexual
Transgender
Q***r selves,
Your drag queen
Butch and femme
Cross-dressing
Nail-painting
Leather-clad
Tutu-wearing
Glitter-dusted
Selves,
Your genderq***r
Genderfluid
Agender
Asexual
Pansexual
QUILTBAG selves,
And all the other identities
That are and will be
And let’s have a celebration,
Because joy is a rebellion, too.
And Q***rness is a part of this church now, too;
Q***r and fabulous!
Amen?

Let us begin!

WE ARE ADDING A NEW PARTICIPANT CATEGORY TO THE CENTRAL IOWA TRANS LIVES FESTIVAL THIS YEAR! SHORT FILMS! If you are a transgender, nonbinary, or genderq***r filmmaker with an Iowa connection, please consider entering your short fim for consideration for possible screening at the festival on June 6. You may use this link to the online application form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-XrQ6tYIeHUb_DQ_aWR_ocPkaCZFI7lSLFUvQ4xH-HVnt0Q/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=108511295859974657731