Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Mark Ashton
In this current socio-political moment I want to write about unexpected allies and coalition building. I think a great example is Mark Ashton, a gay rights activist and co-founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. He was an influential figure in the 1980’s under the conservative Thatcher government in the UK.
The Ritual of Pride
Instead of making offers to the land to ensure an abundance of grain we are instead planting seeds of hope to sustain us through the next year. We celebrate our continued survival in the face of systems and ideologies that would seek to erase and destroy us, and mourn those we have lost to violence and oppression. We lift up our dead in prayer, song, dance, sex, and celebration to ensure their stories carry on.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Leonard Matlovich
Leonard Matlovich was an American Vietnam War veteran, recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, and was the first openly gay service member to purposely out himself to the military in order to fight their ban on gay men serving in the armed forces. He is also the first named openly gay person to appear on the cover of a U.S. news magazine.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: David Kato
David Kato Kisule was a Ugandan teacher and LGBTQ+ rights activist, considered by many to be the father of the Ugandan gay rights movement. He was a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and was deeply involved with the underground LGBTQ+ rights movement in his home country.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood was an author, diarist, playwright, screenwriter, and autobiographer. He is best known for A Single Man, his semi-autobiographical novel Goodbye to Berlin which inspired the musical Cabaret, and his memoir Christopher and His Kind which connected him with the ongoing gay liberation movement.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Kiyoshi Kuromiya
Kiyoshi Kuromiya was a Japanese-American author, advocate, and activist who was involved in the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War protests, gay liberation, and HIV/AIDS activism. He worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and was one of the founders of the the first medical treatment and competency guidelines produced by people living with HIV/AIDS for their community.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Flawless Sabrina
Mother Flawless Sabrina was a New York City-based American LGBT activist and drag queen. She was one of the first widely known drag queens in the United States, and was considered a pioneer for the transgender and drag communities.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight - Homomonument
The Homomonument is the first monument in the world to commemorate those in the LGBTQ+ community who were killed by the Nazis, and has since become a symbol for everyone who has been persecuted because of their sexual orientation.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Perry Watkins
Perry Watkins was an out gay Black man and American military officer. He was unapologetic about who he was for his entire life and continually stared down the systems that sought to oppress LGBTQ+ people in the military. Following a nearly twenty year military career his sexuality was finally turned against him and he decided to fight it in the courts. He would go on to win the first appellate court case against the US military’s ban on lesbian and gay service members.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: The Tavern Guild
The Tavern Guild was an association of gay bar owners and liquor distributers that formed in San Francisco in 1962 and lasted until 1995. It was the first gay business association in the United States and developed in response to police raids on gay establishments.