My Name Is Iden | Live the riot
- Published: June 27, 2025
On June 28, 1969, the police raided The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. It wasn’t the first time they had done this, but that night, the patrons stood up determined to make it the last.
The Stonewall Riots were not the start of the queer rights movement, but they were the moment that captured the world’s attention and the wind that fanned a spark of disquiet into the flames of resistance. Change didn’t come overnight. Bigotry is not a chill chased away with a bit of warmth. It is a deep freeze and it takes a hell of a lot of fire to banish it.
Each June, we celebrate those whose bravery pushed us to this point. We recognize the work and the sacrifice it has taken to keep this movement alive and burning for the past 56 years. We march, sing and dance in all our beautiful diversity. It is easy to get caught up in the fun. Who doesn’t love a parade? Who doesn’t love buying a rainbow flag?
Pride is more than a party. Pride is a coming together of the LGBTQ community and our allies and a recommitment to continue the work of those who came before us. This celebration is a global act of defiance. Our fight is not over. Not even close.
The Trump administration has made the destruction of the queer population a national priority. They have started by targeting transgender, intersex, gender-expansive and nonbinary people, erasing our names and stories with gleeful zeal. States have begun passing laws that restrict trans people’s access to basic necessities, including travel, employment and healthcare. The Smithsonian has begun to remove all mention of transgender people under the auspices of “incorrect ideology.” The National Park Service has scrubbed all mention of transgender people, including the critical role played by trans people at Stonewall and going so far as to erase the “T” from “LGBT.”
I believe that this is just the beginning. I believe that the aim of Donald Trump, and his followers, is the permanent removal of gender-nonconforming people from America. These are merely the first steps toward dehumanizing and then eliminating us.
The federal government has already demonstrated a willingness, and an ability, to detain, deport and imprison legal residents without due process. There are active efforts to expand concentration camps in El Salvador to hold, until death, those the government deems unAmerican.
It is critical that we — all of us — work together to fight this. Now is not the time for parties and parades. Now is the time to resist. Now is the time to stand up and say, “No more.” Now is the time to remember Pride for what it really is: a riot. If we don’t remember that, then there will be no more parties, no more parades, no more dancing, and our songs will never be heard here again.
Now is the time for all of the people who bought the flags, who wore the T-shirts and claimed the title of “ally” to get involved. Stand on the line with your queer friends. Support your trans colleagues and neighbors. Protect the people you love.
The threat is real, the danger is present and our time to fight is here. There is a vast apparatus of money and hate looking to plunge America back into the coldness of its past, but we are not yet defeated. Our resistance still burns and we can overcome.
If a group of bar patrons can change the world, then surely we can, too. We must find the courage to go live the riot, to maintain the flame and to fight for a future where we no longer need to fight. A future where being yourself isn’t an act of defiance, but an act of affirmation that warms us all.
*The author is an artist and writer. She lives in Yellow Springs with her wife and three children. You can follow her work at mynameisiden.com.
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