The Optimistic Authour

“With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands. There is power in a union.”

🏳️‍🌈 Ruth Ellis (1899 - 2000) was the daughter of former slaves. She came out as a lesbian when she was 16-years-old to the complete acceptance of her family. In 1937, Ruth and her longtime partner moved to Detroit from their hometown of Springfield, Illinois for the promise of higher wages. There, she became the first woman in Michigan to run her own printing business. She printed fliers, posters, and stationary in the front room of her home, which also quickly became a hotspot for Black LGBTQ social life. Before long, Ruth was helping those who came around in any way she could, including by paying for college tuitions. After the Stonewall uprising, 70-year-old Ruth began giving speeches in support of gay and lesbian rights all across the country. She remained an activist for the rest of her long life and even spent her 100th birthday leading the San Francisco Dyke March. At the time of her death at 101, she was recognized as the oldest out lesbian in the US. She is the subject of the documentary "Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100" and is the namesake of the Ruth Ellis Center, a shelter for homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth in Detroit.

Celebrate Ruth Ellis.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Ellis_(activist)

#Pride #BlackLivesMatter

Queer people can't ignore BLM when signs from the LGBT rights movement could easily be used for BLM today.

We only have parades because we had riots.

"Blue fascism must go!" - 1967:

"Why are the cops fascinated by us?" - c. 1970:

"Police & gvt violence increases daily - against the poor, minorities, women & gays. Are you next? Fight back!! For all of us! & For your own life!" - 1982:

"Stop perverted cops." - c. 1990:

"Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living." - 1992:

"How many more have to die?" - 1993:

"NYPD: your bullets are racist." - 1999:

This year, pride isn't cancelled - it's focused. Focused on the black LGBT people who fought for us and with us all along. Wake up!

THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON (2017)

History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities. — Marsha P. Johnson

Queens started being filed out and being put into police cars, and guns had been drawn. Molotov cocktails were flying. And I’m like, “Oh my God, the revolution is here. Thank God. You’ve been treating us like shit all these years? Uh uh. Now it’s our turn.” — Sylvia Rivera

THE FIRST PRIDE WAS A RIOT HAPPY PRIDE | BLACK LIVES MATTER

Reminder that Stonewall wasn’t about marriage equality. Stonewall was about police brutality. It was about systemic abuse and subordination. Stonewall was spearheaded by black trans women. As we celebrate Pride 2020, within the context of the Black Lives Matter riots, it’s imperative that we remember that.

Riots in protest of police brutality are the reason that we have more rights today. Do not forget your roots.

You can’t celebrate Pride while simultaneously condemning the Black Lives Matter riots and protests that are happening right now. Know your history.

black lives matter and pride are intrinsically linked. the black trans community have done so much for us, we owe it to them to not forget their movement this month. without black lives, there would be no pride. black lives matter, today and always

HAHAHAHA YES THATS EXACTLY HOW IT HAPPENS OMFKAJSNHDDND

Happy Pride Month!

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!!!!!

the one and only true mood for june

Happy pride 🌈❤️💛💚💙💜

its pride month of twentygayteen and i still don’t have a girlfriend i would like to speak to the management

This is management. Have you tried talking to girls?

During the 1980s, more gay men died in New York City during the AIDS crisis than all recorded deaths of American soldiers in Vietnam. You need to know that.

wholesome pride month meme

“You can’t buy LGBT merch or attend LGBT events if you’re attracted to the opposite gender.”

May I introduce you to … the BT in LGBT, the Q in LGBTQ, the IA in LGBTQIA, and the + in LGBT+?

posters from the fight against HIV/AIDS

important to remember your history, i’d like to see the current lgbt/queer movement take some pointers from the 80s-90s radicals

me @ my friends who r going to pride fests and parades