Black Lives Matter.
More than a mantra, it’s a movement; a fight for justice led by activists across the globe including the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Foundation. The nonprofit formally launched in 2013 after the murderer of 17-year-old Florida student Trayvon Martin was acquitted, working to eradicate anti-Black violence for every Black life.
That includes those in the LGBTQ community. “We must ensure we are building a movement that brings all of us to the front,” the BLM website reads. “We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. Our network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements.”
That means that Black lesbian lives matter. Black gay lives matter. Black bisexual lives matter. Black transgender lives matter. Black queer lives matter. Wherever they fall in the expansive LGBTQ community, All Black Lives Matter, an assertion leaders from the Human Rights Campaign, Equality Florida and hundreds of other organizations have affirmed this Pride Month.
Black, transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson also understood this, a testament that the fights for racial and LGBTQ equality have long been intertwined. More than 50 years ago, she became an architect of the LGBTQ civil rights movement when she fought against police brutality at the Stonewall Inn in June of 1969.
Johnson may have summarized the connection best while reflecting on her years of activism in 1992, asserting that we can all play an active role in the fight for justice. During her last known interview, she explained that “you never completely have your rights, one person, till you all have your rights … As long as there’s one gay person who has to walk for gay rights, then all of us should be walking for gay rights.”
Watermark firmly believes this. More than 25 years ago we were founded to give a voice to the LGBTQ community – all of it – and we stand in solidarity with all who oppose racism and hatred. To actively affirm this, we will capitalize “Black” in reference to culture and showcase the Progress Pride Flag in our editorial content moving forward, designed to emphasize the struggles of the most marginalized members of our community.
We will also continue to listen to their voices, which can be as critical as speaking up. Below, you can click through the links of six Black, LGBTQ members of our community from Central Florida and Tampa Bay who share their stories to allow us all to do exactly that. Black Lives Matter. All of them.
Darcel Stevens, Parliament House Orlando’s entertainment director
Grace Korley, LGBTQ activist, student and Harvey Milk Festival volunteer
Angela Hunt, with Octavis Henry, Central Florida activists for the Black and transgender communities
DJ Power Infiniti, Renowned performance artist based in Tampa Bay
TeMonet, Tampa Bay entertainer and City Side Lounge’s co-show director
