June Display #3: LGBTQ+ Activism, Movements, and Representation Today

This month Clark College Libraries is celebrating queer pride! This is our third virtual display in a series covering different topics relating to pride month and the queer community, in collaboration with the Queer Penguins and Allies club. This display focuses on current activism, movements, and representation of the LGBTQ+ community.

Follow the links below to check out some ebooks, videos, articles, and other digital resources. To access ebooks click the link next to “Get It Now At:” and sign in with your lab username and password. Some may have a link at the top of the page that says “Check for full text” instead. Non-Clark Libraries resources do not require a Clark Labs account.

eBooks from Clark College Libraries

Make Your Own History: Documenting Feminist and Queer Activism in the 21st Century edited by Lyz Bly and Kelly Wooten	Listen, We Need to Talk: How to Change Attitudes about LGBT Rights by Brian F. Harrison
Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies: Queer Representation, Visibility, and Race in American Film and Television by Melanie Kohnen	Queers Destroy Science Fiction! (Note: While this is not a Clark College ebook, it is a book that Clark College has in its physical collection.)
The Battle over Marriage: Gay Rights Activism Through the Media by Leigh Moscowitz	Transnational LGBT Activism: Working for Sexual Rights Worldwide by Ryan Thoreson

Outside Resources

Activism and Movements

Celebrating Pride Month and rallying for racial equality: LGBTQ groups seek ‘to stand in solidarity with the black community’ – Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY

“Pride Month began Monday. Many in the LGBTQ community, however, were unsure how to celebrate without overshadowing the ongoing nationwide protests over racial injustice spurred by the death of George Floyd.

But activist Jay W. Walker told USA TODAY that the struggle against oppression is inseparable from the LGBTQ rights movement.

‘The truth is that the movement for black civil rights and the LGBTQ+ movement – the Pride movement – have always exhibited a certain level of intersectionality,” said Walker, the co-founder of Reclaim Pride Coalition, a group that created the Queer Liberation March, first staged last year in New York.'”

Pride Began With A Protest: How Gay Rights Are Connected To Black Lives Matter – Bobby Berk

“The modern gay rights movement began because of the activism of black members of the community. Through riots, marches, protests and raising their voices, they raised awareness and brought about change. Now that an entire nation has been galvanized to protest and demand rights for Black Americans, we wanted to look back at the history of the gay rights movement – how black activists helped pave the way, and how their actions are connected to the protests of today.”

What will Pride mean this year? – Katelyn Burns, Vox

“The folks behind this year’s online Pride felt it was important not to skip a year as Pride can be important to queer people who are attending for the first time.

“’Every Pride organizer that you talk to will have a story about someone that has come to their Pride, whose life has been changed by Pride,’ said Taylor. ‘It might be the first time in their life that they felt safe, that they felt part of the community, that they felt valued and loved or that they felt surrounded by people who are like them rather than feeling like an outsider. It’s really critical for Pride organizers — because we believe passionately in our movement and its transformative effects on people — that we find a way to deliver that event in a safe way [during the pandemic].’”

The 2019 Queer Liberation March Reclaimed the Resistance of Pride – James Factora, them.

“At 9:30 AM last Sunday, thousands of LGBTQ+ people gathered near The Stonewall Inn in Manhattan to kick off the inaugural Queer Liberation March. The Reclaim Pride Coalition, a grassroots organization determined to create a radical alternative to New York Pride, had launched the demonstration as a way to counter the increasingly corporate and policed nature of New York City’s main Pride parade — but also as a way to tap back into the queer community’s tradition of resistance against oppression, to demand social and economic justice, and to celebrate queer communities and queer history, according to a handout distributed at the protest.”

12 Awe-Inspiring Photos From This Weekend’s March for Black Trans Lives – Michelle Kim, them.

“An estimated 15,000 people gathered at the Brooklyn Museum on Sunday afternoon to rally and march for Black trans lives at an action called Brooklyn Liberation. The attendees all wore white, as a nod to a 1917 NAACP protest against anti-Black violence where thousands of people gathered wearing all white. It marks what is thought to be the largest trans-based protest in history, according to one of the action’s organizers, Fran Tirado.”

The Double-Edged Sword of Corporate, Commercialized Pride – Naveen Kumar, them.

“Critiques from within the LGBTQ+ community of the commercialization of Pride are various, valid, and not exactly new. But as the corporatization of Pride reaches a fever pitch (and brands prepare to move on to new marketing strategies next month), the real danger lies in any assumption that commercial visibility equals victory in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights, and in losing sight of who’s been excluded from that equation all along.”

Activists, Politicians, Celebs Rejoice at SCOTUS Pro-LGBTQ+ Ruling – Neal Broverman, Advocate

“Monday’s Supreme Court ruling confirming LGBTQ+ people are protected from workplace discrimination was heralded around the nation.

The world’s most prominent LGBTQ+ people, along with many allies, weighed in on the surprising 6-3 decision, with the majority opinion written by conservative Donald Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch. Jubilation may be the best word to describe the response, especially since the news followed years of attacks on LGBTQ+ people from the Trump administration and months of quarantine and high-profile killings of unarmed Black people by police. There also were numerous reminders on Twitter that the ruling does not protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in housing and public accommodations and that Congress must pass the Equality Act to fully protect queer individuals.”

Representation

2019 GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index

“The GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index (SRI) maps the quantity, quality and diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) characters in films released by the seven major motion picture studios during the 2018 calendar year. GLAAD researched films released by 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros., as well as films released by four subsidiaries of these major studios. The report is intended to serve as a road map toward increasing fair, accurate and inclusive LGBTQ representation in film.”

GLAAD report: LGBTQ representation in films is up, but less diverse – Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times

“Hollywood made some gains last year when it came to representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer characters in mainstream films, but it has plenty of room for improvement, according to a new study from GLAAD.”

Daniel Quasar redesigns LGBT Rainbow Flag to be more inclusive – Natashah Hitti, dezeen

“Quasar’s Progress Pride Flag adds five arrow-shaped lines to the six-coloured Rainbow Flag, which is widely recognised as the symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

The flag includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalised LGBT communities of colour, along with the colours pink, light blue and white, which are used on the Transgender Pride Flag.”

Brown, Black, Queer and Invisible – Jamal Jordan, New York Times

“As a teenager, I made a wall-size mural of clippings from gay magazines. Dozens of faces lined my bedroom wall — boys modeling expensive clothes, young lesbian couples, big, shirtless men leering at the camera — declared by XY Magazine to be ‘The Future of Young Gay America.’

They were all white. Every morning I’d wake to see them, a reminder of the mythical gay adulthood that awaited after high school, after Detroit, far away from there.

None of these people looked like me. I worked hard to imagine a place for myself in this world. Whom would I talk to? Who would be my friend? Who would love me?”

Despite Historic High, LGBTQ Still Underrepresented in Elected Office – Graham Vyse, Governing

“’Although great strides were made in the past year,’ the report states, ‘LGBTQ people of color, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and LGBTQ cisgender women are still severely underrepresented among LGBTQ elected officials. Diversifying the pipeline of upcoming LGBTQ leaders must remain a priority in the effort to elect the 22,688 LGBTQ people necessary to achieve equitable representation for the community as a whole.’”

Featured Image Photo Credit: https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/photos/the-iconic-stonewall-inn-in-the-greenwich-village-neighborhood-of-lower-manhattan/17078