Queer as in Black lives matter

On this first day of Pride month, Rainbow Street planned to launch a campaign culminating on Give Out Day on June 30. We’re pausing that launch in solidarity with all who are protesting police violence in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

As queer people, we understand the power—and the necessity—of an uprising. At its core, Pride itself is a protest, a riot, a rebellion.

And right now, our Black comrades and their allies are rising up. With them, we say the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade, a Black transgender man murdered by police in Florida last week.

Rainbow Street is a queer organization—queer as in Black lives matter, queer as in anti-racist, queer as in united against police terrorism, white supremacy, colonialism, militarism, capitalism, oppression. Queer people aren’t safe until these systems are dismantled. 

Whether you are protesting today or sheltering at home, we wish you peace and power this Pride month. 

Art by Shirien Dabra and Miriam Mosqueda (@vientoxsol).