FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 3.14.2019
Contact: Natalie James: 917-860-1571
Email: Press@ReclaimPrideNYC.org
Queer Liberation March Coalition to Hold Public Organizing Meeting in NYC March 27th
Event will mobilize community to produce major alternative march for Stonewall Rebellion’s 50th Anniversary
New York, NY — March 14th, 2019 — The Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC), organizers of the June 30th Queer Liberation March, will hold a Citywide Organizing and Update Meeting on Wednesday, March 27th, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the NYC LGBT Community Center, to share updates in the planning of the March and to enlist members of the public in the range of tasks necessary to produce it. Guest speakers will also discuss why the alternative march is imperative, and explain its national and international contexts.
"In the spirit of the people from our community who stood up to police abuse at the Stonewall Inn 50 years ago, we are organizing a march that will provide a counter to the overly commercialized and corporate nature of the annual NYC Pride Parade,” said activist and RPC organizer, Leslie Cagan. “For all of the advances of the past five decades, the struggles of our diverse communities are far from over. It is time to reignite a bold movement that demands our full rights and that is unafraid to confront the systems of oppression that we face every day,” she said.
RPC work committees will discuss their various needs for community members to do outreach, canvassing, marshaling, event planning, volunteer organizing and communications tasks. The March 27th meeting will give attendees the opportunity to contribute their skills and help shape this important grassroots event.
In keeping with the 1970 Christopher Street Liberation Day March, The Queer Liberation March will leave from Sheridan Square at 10 a.m. on June 30th and will move up Sixth Avenue to a Rally in Central Park, on the same day as the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion and going head-to-head with the Heritage of Pride-organized NYC Pride Parade. RPC has filed permit applications with the NYPD and Parks Department, and the nonprofit organization Housing Works has signed on as the group’s fiscal sponsor.
“On the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, I would like to take part in a protest, not a corporate celebration,” said Masha Gessen, Russian-American writer, journalist and one of several well-known community activists endorsing the march. “We have much to be outraged about. In the United States, a hateful administration is turning back gains in LGBTQ rights; around the world, we are targeted by deadly violence—and this country is failing to provide a safe haven for queers and others fleeing for their lives. This is not a moment to stage a parade—this is a moment to march for queer rights,” said Gessen.
The march, which prioritizes the experience of the most marginalized members of the larger queer community, fiercely opposes the discrimination and violence that are still perpetrated against trans, bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, non-binary and gender-nonconforming+ communities in the United States and throughout the world. With a growing list of endorsements from over 80 local, national and international groups, the march also will not permit police officers or corporate floats to join its ranks, as both state oppression and commercial exploitation are antithetical to the spirit of the 1969 rebellion it seeks to preserve.
“As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion, we have a responsibility to honor and uplift the legacy of (Stonewall veterans and trans activists) Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera,” said trans activist Jennicet Gutiérrez. “We should always center and uplift the voices they fought so hard to be heard: trans, gender non-binary, sex workers, among other marginalized folks. We must never center and uplift corporations or politicians,” she said.
Full organizational endorsement list.
#ReclaimPride #Queer Liberation March
Press@ReclaimPrideNYC.org
Twitter: @QueerMarch
Facebook: @QueerMarch
Instagram: @QueerMarch
Facebook Event Page for March 27th Public Meeting
Stonewall 50 Human Rights and Social Justice March on Facebook
RPC Website