The Queer Liberation March is an annual LGBT protest march in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, organized by the

Reclaim Pride Coalition Reclaim Pride Coalition is a coalition of LGBT groups and individuals that initially gathered in New York City in 2019 to create the Queer Liberation March in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots and to protest the commercializati ...

as an

anti-corporate Anti-corporate activism refers to the idea of activism that is directed against the private sector, and specifically against larger corporations. It stems from the idea that the activities and impacts of big business are detrimental to the publ ...

alternative to the

NYC Pride March The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBTQ community in New York City. Among the largest Pride events in the world, the NYC Pride March attracts tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each J ...

. A

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

collective of queer rights activists and supporters held the first Queer Liberation March to coincide with WorldPride NYC, which marked the 50th anniversary of the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the LGBT community#Terminology, gay community in response to a police raid that began in t ...

. A year later the coalition marched in solidarity with

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...

, and against

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

, only to see the non-violent demonstration met with NYPD using pepper spray on protesters.

Background

There has been a large annual march and parade in New York City since 1970, first organized by the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee, to mark the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Since 1984, the growing event was produced by the nonprofit

Heritage of Pride Heritage of Pride (HOP), doing business as NYC Pride, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that plans and produces the official New York City LGBTQIA+ Pride Week events each June. HOP began working on the events in 1984, taking on the work pre ...

. Criticism of the increasingly corporate and rules-heavy event reached a tipping point in 1994 (the 25th anniversary of the

), resulting in the first Drag March. The Queer Liberation March was organized in protest of the corporate-focused sponsorship and participation requirements of the larger march, resulting in dueling Manhattan LGBT marches on the same day in 2019. The Queer Liberation March proceeded uptown on

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...

in Manhattan, following the path of the original 1970 demonstration. As a result of following the 1970 route, the first Queer Liberation March proceeded in the opposite direction of the New York City Pride March, which travels downtown on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 populatio ...

through most of its route.

Organization

The Queer Liberation March was organized by the

and was endorsed by activist and grassroots organizations including ACT UP NY,

God's Love We Deliver God's Love We Deliver (GLWD) is an American charitable organization founded in 1985 based in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 pop ...

Housing Works Housing Works is a New York City-based non-profit fighting AIDS and homelessness. The charity is well known for its entrepreneurial businesses including a chain of thrift shops, which supports efforts to end AIDS and homelessness where they a ...

, NYC Democratic Socialists of America, and

SAGE Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

Civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

attorney

Norman Siegel Norman Siegel is the former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), New York's leading civil rights organization, under the umbrella of the nationwide American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), as well as a former candidat ...

worked with the City of New York for an agreement to hold the march on the same day as the larger

. The march sought to embrace the activist intentions some believe have been lost in the larger, celebratory event.

Participation

The 2019 march began with 8,000 participants at the

Stonewall National Monument Stonewall National Monument is a U.S. national monument in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The designated area includes the Stonewall Inn, the Christopher Park, and nearby streets includin ...

and grew to 45,000 people as others joined along the way. File:Queer Liberation, Not Rainbow Capitalism.jpg, Queer Liberation, Not Rainbow Capitalism File:We Resist at the Queer Liberation March.jpg, We Resist at the Queer Liberation March File:Die-in at the Queer Liberation March 01.jpg, Die-in at the Queer Liberation March at 6th Avenue and 23rd Street in Manhattan.

Special themes

* 2020: Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality * 2022: Queer Liberation March for Trans and BIPOC Freedom, Reproductive Justice, and Bodily Autonomy

References

{{LGBT in New York LGBT culture in New York City LGBT events in New York (state) Pride parades in the United States LGBT civil rights demonstrations

Background

Organization

Participation

Special themes

See also

References