June 28th, marks 55 years to the day, since the 1969 Stonewall uprising.
A significant moment in LGBTQIA+ history, when people at the Stonewall Inn — a gay bar in Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan — rebuffed a police raid and set a new tone for the LGBTQIA+ rights movement, inspiring much further activism and the first pride marches in 1970.
To honour these events and the people who were a part of them, GLOW choir would like to share with you a song written for LGBT+ history month this year, written for GLOW and for LGBTQIA+ people everywhere. The song is called: Revolution!
Listen to the song at the video attached:
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Revolution! has lyrics quoting LGBTQIA+ people past and present. The song honours queer elders whose lives and actions have helped bring about the freedoms some of us enjoy today;
It also acknowledges the determined spirit of our LGBTQIA+ community to continue surviving, and supporting each other to thrive in whatever ways we can, against all the odds.
The song also acknowledges that there is still work to be done, everywhere, for LGBTQIA+ people to be able to live safely and as themselves.
GLOW Choir hopes that this song will help inspire queer communities to keep supporting each other, fighting for all our rights, surviving and making the world a better place for everyone under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, all over the world.
Most lyrics are quoted from important figures from queer history, but there are some newly written lyrics too by GLOW’s choir leader Hannah-rose, with help from Chris.
These new lyrics give a nod to the importance of ‘queer joy;’ as activism can burn us out, as can being LGBTQIA+ in societies that have hostility towards that. Which makes joy and nourishment all the more important!
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You’ll find quotes in this video from Sylvia Rivera, James Baldwin, Harvey Milk and Marsha P Johnson. You can see photos of these incredible people attached to this post.
Silvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson were both actively involved in the Stonewall Inn uprising on June 28, 1969.
Sylvia Rivera (1951 – 2002) was an American gay liberation and transgender rights activist and community worker, who co-founded STAR with Marsha P Johnson. From Sylvia and Marsha’s perspectives, personal freedom depends on the liberation of all oppressed peoples.
Marsha P. Johnson (1945 – 1992) was an African American trans woman who was an LGBTQ rights activist, drag performer, and an outspoken advocate for trans people of colour. Her life has been celebrated in numerous books, documentaries and films.
Marsha P Johnson spearheaded the Stonewall uprising. She said:
“You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.”
The P in Marsha’s name stood for “Pay It No Mind” – a saying which the activist used constantly. When people questioned her gender or her ideas on gender identity, she would simply quip back, “Pay it no mind!”
Syvlia Rivera said in an interview in 2001 about the Stonewall riots, that while she did not throw the first Molotov cocktail at the police (a long-enduring myth), she did throw the second. For six nights, the 17-year-old Rivera refused to go home or to sleep, saying “I’m not missing a minute of this—it’s the revolution!”
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Other quotes you may find in this song:
“Hope is never silent,” Harvey Milk.
Harvey Milk (1930-1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
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“You have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all.” James Baldwin (advice from a friend).
James Baldwin (1924 – 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist. His writing explores themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class, with narratives running parallel to some of the major political movements toward social change in mid-twentieth century America.
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If you think we’ve got any of our facts wrong, feel free to update us on glow@getbrightonsinging.com
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Here’s to Stonewall day, and to LGBTQIA+ activists everywhere.
We have fallen into the place where everything is music - Rumi 