By Julie Bolcer
A stroll last Friday through the mini tent city of Zuccotti Park in
downtown Manhattan revealed none of the classic signifiers of LGBT
activism. There, amid the mattresses and recliners, the communal
kitchen and library of donated books, no Pride flags or pink triangles
could be seen. Nor did anyone utter the letters “LGBT” over the
“people’s mic,” the call-and-response technique occupiers have devised
for amplification in lieu of a city permit for a real microphone.
Occupy Wall Street is a protest against economic inequities in which
LGBT participants seem to be playing a more fully integrated role. In
a series of interviews, activists, most of whom self-identified with
the word “queer,” reported feeling visible and incorporated into the
whole of the occupation, even as they remain mindful of the unique
challenges they face because of ongoing discrimination in the broader
society.
“I think the coolest thing right now is that queer people are being
seen as just part of the fight,” said Justin Adkins, a transgender man
from Massachusetts who traveled to New York the past two weekends.
“The majority of the time when I’m protesting, I’m either queer, or
I’m for this. It’s not usually that I can be both. I’m a queer person
fighting for economic justice. How awesome is that?”
Now in its third week, Occupy Wall Street uses a consensus-driven
style of decision-making through its General Assembly. Participants
eschew the notion of leaders, although a core group of volunteers
paved the way for the events with voluminous email and other planning
over the summer. The radical, organic structure initially baffled many
observers, although by Wednesday, a growing list of labor unions,
elected officials, and celebrities had expressed support for a large
march that seemed to legitimize the occupation. It and similar events
in other cities could continue indefinitely.
“What the public is used to or what the media has taught us to be used
to is you have a protest and you have a message and that’s how the
thing works,” said Marya Triandafellos, a lesbian artist who lives
near the park dubbed “Liberty Plaza” and has visited several times.
“In a parallel way, there doesn’t have to be a message at this point.
Everyone may have the things they feel most passionate about, but
overall the message is, ‘We’re not happy. We can do better.’”
Anyone is invited to come and air grievances. According to attendees,
queer people have done so in significant numbers since the occupation
began September 17.
“There’s a lot of visibility and there’s a lot of participation,” said
Patricia Gonzalez, a queer media maker who helps translate the print
newspaper The Occupied Wall Street Journal. “The participation might
not be directly as organizing around LGBT issues, but in the groups
that I am collaborating with or the other groups that I know, there
are queer people that are very much organizing those groups and are a
part of it. LGBT people are making contributions.”
“There’s queer people from all political aspects and ranges,” she
said. “For example, at the General Assembly, there was a man who spoke
up and said, ‘I am a bisexual man and an anarchist,’ and he said other
things he was. There is this space for people like him to do that and
it’s embraced.”
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