reclaimingthelatinatag:
Sylvia Rivera’s 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day Rally Speech
[trigger warning for transphobia, racism, rape, police brutality, and general violence]
This is 1973 video of Sylvia Rivera speaking at the Christopher Street Liberation Day Rally, where she literally had to fight her way to the stage, past a crowd of transphobes and racists who tried to silence her. When Sylvia finally gets to the stage, she looks at the audience, grabs the mic, and shouts, “Y’all better quiet down!”. Sylvia immediately starts denouncing the gay community for ignoring the struggles outside the cis-white-gay spectrum. This video is amazing.
(via fuckyeahriotgrrrlsofcolor)