Power & Pride: The Stonewall Riots & the Roots of the Modern LGBTQ+ Rights Movement

Pride House, ons 2 aug 13:00–13:45

Why do we celebrate Pride each summer? What was the spark that ignited the modern LGBTQ+ Rights Movement? Journey back to the fateful night of June 28th, 1969, when patrons of New York City’s Stonewall bar, fed up with being demonized by the state, humiliating treatment by the mafia-owned clubs, and police harassment, finally fought back. That week-long uprising after decades of routine discrimination and abuse lit the torch of the modern LGBTQ+ Rights Movement and inspired other LGBTQ+ people worldwide to organize, establishing June as Pride Month in the United States and summer as the time to celebrate worldwide.

In this short talk for people at all levels — from history buffs to people who are completely new to this tale — Dr. Nancy Goldstein will tell the story of Stonewall. She will include an overview of the people, activists, movements, and circumstances that led up to that night of rage and rebellion and some of the key changes and challenges we live with today as a result of that historic moment.

Post-talk, the floor is open for your questions and comments. We look forward to the kind of lively, interactive discussions this talk has already produced in Barcelona and Copenhagen!

BIOGRAPHY
Nancy Goldstein has been very queer for a very long time. She holds a doctorate from Brandeis University, and has taught Gender and Women’s Studies, including LGBTQ History and Studies, at institutions including Harvard University and MIT. A co-editor of The Gender Politics of HIV in Women, and a finalist in the Washington Post’s Next Great Pundit Contest, her opinion pieces appear in the Texas Observer, the Guardian, The Nation, The American Prospect, and Haaretz. When not raging against the machine, she heads her own consultancy, doing fundraising, project management, and communications for progressive NGOs: https://www.ngconsults.com/