Not My Stonewall.

Erasure of people of colour in a Hollywood feature is nothing new. Nor is the tired practice of casting a cisgender man in the role of a Transgender Female character. Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall movie however takes erasure to new heights. The 1969 stonewall uprising was by all means the turning point for LGBT liberation

The stonewall uprising it ‘self was not an Isolated incident but rather another in a series of protest actions in major cities across the United States of America the earliest occurring a decade before stronewall at Coopers Doughnuts in Los Angeles. This was followed by other direct actions throughout the United States most being led by Transgender Women of colour. Its important to realize the class as race distinctions played a huge part in LGBT oppression during this era. Rich Homosexual men tended to suffer under the anti-gay laws in the USA during this time period. Working class Queers suffered far more than the rich and Queer people of Colour faced discrimination even within the LGBT community (some would argue they still do to this day). Trans people were themselves seen as bellow most of the gay community. And Homeless Trans women of colour very much bore the brunt of the anti LGBT laws of that time.

The stonewall story can’t be told properly without understanding the dynamics of oppression that caused not only stonewall but also the preceding actions of the prior decade. Without this basic understanding the Roland Emmerich movie is nothing more than a Hollywood fantasy that shares only the name and location of a significant historical event.