Statement on Supreme Court Decision

The first national march for gay and lesbian rights happened ten years after the Stonewall Riots in NYC on October 14, 1979, in Washington D.C. At the time, movement folk from across the country had been debating whether they could pull off such a mass demonstration when openly gay politician and city supervisor Harvey Milk was assassinated in San Francisco in November of 1978 for his sponsorship of a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation. It was clear to many at the time, including Black feminist, author, and poet Audre Lorde that speaking up nationally to demand equal treatment under the law for gays and lesbians was more pressing than ever. In her speech to marchers that day, Lorde said, 

“Lesbians and gay men have always been in the vanguard of struggles for liberation and justice in this country and within our communities…  The struggle of lesbians and gay men is a real and particular and inseparable struggle of all oppressed people within this country. I am proud to raise my voice here on this day as a Black lesbian feminist committed to struggle for a world where all our children can grow free from the diseases of racism, of classism, of sexism, and of homophobia for those oppressions are inseparable. The question always is, what kind of a world do we want to be a part of? …Each of us has a responsibility to take this struggle back to his and her community translated into daily action… Let us carry this solidarity that we are professing here today back with us into our everyday lives tomorrow and the day after and next week and next year and let it be reflected in a renewed commitment to struggle for a future where we can all flourish for not one of us will ever be free until we are all free.”

Since that march in 1978, hundreds of bills have passed and court decisions have been handed down at local and national levels to solidify the rights of queer and transgender people under the law. These decisions have had real, every day impacts on the lives of people within these communities. And yet, last week, forty-five years after Milk was murdered for speaking up against discrimination in public accommodations, the Supreme Court condoned the legal discrimination of queer and transgender people in public accommodations in its 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis decision. This ruling sets a troublesome precedent of allowing public businesses to discriminate against some customers based on personal beliefs. The slippery slope here is steep. The concerns for what other type of discrimination this ruling could condone are disturbing. It also comes on the heels of the more than 550 anti-trans bills across 49 states having been introduced in 2023 alone to limit the rights of LGBTQIA+ people in our country. In short, the court’s decision is a sobering blow to LGBTIA+ people and communities like our beloved Delores, who is one of the few trans-affirming shelter providers in the city of Denver. To bolster our spirits in this challenging time, we call on the words and work of our LGBTQIA+ ancestors like Milk and Lorde, who in spite of their marginalization and risk to their own comfort and safety, imagined a world where all people are free and took intersectional and organized steps towards that reality. Their work had real and lasting positive outcomes for people of all identities and so will ours. To all of you who show up to volunteer and donate to our community with your time and resources, who show up for those we serve in body and spirit and voice within and outside of our four walls, thank you for supporting us so faithfully and beautifully. We are stronger together!