As Pride Month came to a close, pro-LGBTQ+ organizations and allies came together in the hundreds for the third annual San Fernando Valley Pride march and festival in Van Nuys. But with the immigration raids and attacks on the transgender community affecting people in the Los Angeles area, the need to continue organizing becomes more and more prevalent.
The theme of this year’s event was “Rooted in Resistance.” Kevin Al Perez, executive director of nonprofit Somos Familia Valle, said that because of everything that’s occurred over the last month, they wanted this year’s event to not only celebrate Pride but commemorate how it began with the Stonewall riots in 1969.
On June 28, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village in New York City. Instead of dispersing, those who weren’t arrested and neighborhood residents became increasingly agitated and soon started throwing objects at police, soon becoming a full-blown riot. Confrontations against the police continued for six more days.
The riots became a major turning point for the gay rights movement, as it led to the formation of numerous gay organizations. The following year, thousands marched in Manhattan in what was called America’s first gay pride parade.
The recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and the deployment of both the National Guard and the United States Marines have been a major point of concern especially for LGBTQ+ Latino groups including Somos Familia Valle. They’ve been has been holding more rapid response meetings and campaigns to get more people involved and organized.
But it’s also been attacks on the queer and trans community that the nonprofit is focused on. Perez brought up the story of Linda Becerra Moran, a trans woman who was shot by LA Police Department (LAPD) officers in February. She called 911, saying she was kidnapped and held captive in a Pacoima motel. After police arrived and examined her head, where she claimed she was hit by a bottle multiple times, she became agitated over time and told them to leave.
Officers retreated to the doorway and drew their weapons on Becerra Moran, who withdrew to the back of the room and held a knife to her throat, continuing to tell them to leave. Officers talked over each other, telling her to calm down and drop the knife. As she approached the center of the room, Officer Jacob Sanchez opened fire, hitting her in the chest, and she collapsed on the motel bed.
Although she was unconscious, Becerra Moran was handcuffed by police before they administered aid. She was taken to a local hospital and put on life support before she died from her injuries three weeks later.
Perez added that trans people have always been a target for politicians who are against the LGBTQ+ community, usually using the excuse of protecting children. Trans athletes, particularly trans women, have been especially targeted over accusations that they have an unfair advantage over their biologically female competitors.
On July 2, University of Pennsylvania agreed to strip the records and titles of trans woman swimmer Lia Thomas in an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education and said it would apologize to female athletes who were “disadvantaged” by her participation.
“What about those political figures who have also done so much harm to our youth? What about those religious figures who have done so much harm to our youth?” Perez questioned. “I think the LGBT community and youth just need support. They need to be seen and they need to be visible.
“What [President Donald Trump’s] administration is doing is very unfortunate because [trans people] are just 1% of the population, and that’s the main target that they’re attacking,” Perez continued. “Somos Familia Valle is fighting. We’re trying to support our trans community through our TGI [Trans/Gender Diverse/Intersex] support group and we’ll keep pushing the movement with our trans community members.”
Despite the current circumstances and the fear that has permeated throughout LA, Perez thinks that this is a great time for people to join a movement and get involved in their community.
Others at the event, however, expressed a stronger need for urgency in organizing against the current administration, particularly against President Donald Trump. Maya, who did not provide her last name, helped to carry a large sign that read “Trump Must Go Now!” during the Pride march. When talking about her sign, she did not mince her words about her thoughts on the current president.
“Trump must go in the name of humanity,” Maya said. “We refuse to accept a fascist America and we’re calling on all the people who hate what’s happening with the ICE raids. Our brothers and sisters are being kidnapped by masked thugs. That is outrageous and no one should stand by that.”
To her, getting Trump out of office should be everyone’s number one priority, and she called on people to take to the streets in nonstop demonstrations until their demand becomes a reality.
“These are not normal times. This is fascism right now,” Maya continued. “He’s rolling over the law. He’s (expletive) arresting judges. … If he’s doing that to officials right now, what do you think they’re going to do to the masses of people? We cannot wait. There’s no time to wait.”
Maya knows that many people are feeling demoralized right now and feel that they can’t do anything, but she wants them to understand that they are needed and that the only way to “defeat the machine” is to get together in the millions and demand change.
She promoted the Refuse Fascism coalition, which is organizing nationwide actions for the Fourth of July, including a march and rally at LA City Hall at 11 a.m. They will call for the end of the National Guard deployment to the city and demand that Trump keep his “hands off” birthright citizenship.
“We have to be real, Trump is a Hitler who’s fastly consolidating a fascist regime, and he’s moving very (expletive) quickly,” Maya bluntly said. “We’ve never seen this before in this country, and people need to face that reality. … It’s (expletive) ugly, and we cannot afford for it to consolidate, but you have a role to play to stop that.”