“The story of one June night in 1969 in Greenwich Village often doesn’t mention how the outlaws and outcasts who patronized the Stonewall Inn made their living.” - Historian Melinda Chateauvert

“Indeed, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera — two trans women of color who have both been credited with throwing the proverbial “first brick” at Stonewall had sold sex.

In the years following Stonewall, Rivera and other sex workers united in the Gay Liberation Front and Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, from which they launched organizing campaigns to combat discrimination, demand acceptance of gender and sexual nonconformity, and ultimately call for the overthrow of capitalism.

The erasure of sex workers from Stonewall began almost immediately. As early as 1973, “Rivera had to fight to speak at the gay pride rally celebrating Stonewall because the crowd didn’t want to hear from a transgender sex worker.” As mainstream lgbtq rights organizations gained respectability, these movements distanced themselves from their sex-worker pioneers.

Modern lgbtq right activists owe sex workers a debt. Repaying it will mean making sex-workers’ rights a policy priority, making sure that today’s organized activism is inclusive of their presence, their needs—and their history.”

Source 

“Only a handful of activists in the lgbt movement were there at Stonewall and never stopped their advocacy work until the day they died. Brenda Howard, 58, who died in Queens on June 28 of colon cancer, was one of those genuine articles and her memorial at the LGBT Community Center on July 31 brought together all the different aspects of her life as trouble maker, strategist, editor, Jew, friend, lover and distinguished phone sex worker.”

Throughout her lifetime, Howard was unapologetic about her sexuality, which included kink and polyamory, and worked for decades to increase understanding and visibility related to them. She also worked as a phone sex operator in the 1980s.”

Source / Source

Please stop censoring sex work from your pride history posts.

every time i open up tumblr this post has more notes what the fuck is happening

People reblog this from their mutuals to show love

"This is my weird son. He can't climb for shit, but he is handsome and strong."

#cats be like#is anybody adopt that#and don't wait for an answer

Everything that isn't food is a cat from the perspective of a cat. Cats can look upon the true form of eldritch monstrosities and keep their sanity. They'd just see another cat. A fucking weird-looking cat, but a cat nonetheless.

An always-reblog. 😄