Responding to Asheville's Pride Proclamation
Recently, Youth OUTright was approached by a city representative and invited to be part of Asheville’s Pride Proclamation. We were offered a chance to read the proclamation that was to be signed by Mayor Esther Manheimer prior to the meeting.
On the surface, the proclamation names some important truths, but when we look at the city’s actions compared to the city’s Pride Proclamation, there is a strong dissonance that we could not ignore. We declined the invitation and took time to reflect internally. Now we’re going to share how we feel about this moment and what we’d like to see in the future.
Let’s dig into this statement. It’s complex.
“Pride month initiated in June of 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in New York City after LGBTQ+ residents and allies rose and fought against police harassment and discriminatory laws that have since been declared unconstitutional”
We have not forgotten the police brutality of the Asheville Police Department (APD) in the summer of 2020 where youth and adults were tear-gassed, injured from rubber bullets and other projectiles from police, and where a medic tent was torn apart for those injured by the police during a March against police brutality. The Citizen Times and USA Today both covered this.
There continues to be police harassment and outright violence by the hands of the Asheville Police Department. Uprooting houseless neighbors from their camps can be a death sentence. We know that LGBTQIA+ youth are 120% more likely to become homeless. There are LGBTQIA+ adults and youth who are forced to camp because they have nowhere else to go, and it is the city of Asheville and APD who continue to tear apart these camps. We are seeing constant attempts to increase the police budget, yet no tangible resources to support our Queer and Trans neighbors without housing, with mental health needs, and with little to no access to food and basic necessities.
“The City of Asheville appreciates the cultural, civic, and economic contributions of our LGBTQ+ community members who strengthen our collective wellbeing through their participation”
If this statement were true, the Aston Park defendants would not face felony littering charges for making art with and providing food to the houseless community, on Christmas. Many of the defendants are Trans and Queer folks. Queer folks who were strengthening our collective wellbeing by building community and providing basic resources to our houseless neighbors. Many of those displaced from Aston Park as well as other encampments across Asheville are Trans and Queer. If Asheville truly appreciated these folks, it would not allow them to be routinely harassed by APD. You can read more about the Aston Park story here.
“It is imperative that young people in our community -- regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression -- feel valued, safe, empowered and supported by their community”
Back this statement up with action. Our young people face a wide variety of daily challenges: bigotry and violence in schools and at work, unsupportive families, internal struggles towards self-acceptance, and the complete absence of affordable housing for Queer and Trans folks. And yet, we continue to see the city exploit their talents, identities, and unshaken pride to promote tourism. How will the City of Asheville proactively invest in the futures of Queer and Trans young people?
“While there is much work to be done, we are committing to a better future, acknowledging what Marsha P. Johnson was credited as saying, ‘No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.’”
Let’s repeat that last part: “LIBERATION FOR ALL OF US”
There is indeed much work to be done. Liberation for all of us means housing and food for EVERYONE. Liberation for all of us means the end of prisons and policing.
Marsha P. Johnson was a sex worker, a Black transgender woman, homeless, and a fierce advocate and activist. We believe transcestors like Marsha, Sylvia Rivera, and countless other freedom fighters would be furious if they understood the dissonance between the City of Asheville’s stated values and its actions. The City claims to value trans and queer “cultural, civic, and economic contributions” and recognize how we “strengthen our collective wellbeing through [our] participation” yet criminalizes and prosecutes local houseless neighbors, as well the individuals caring for them.
We cannot celebrate the tokenization and fetishization of Marsha P. Johnson. We cannot celebrate performative statements that contradict the current experience of our communities. Marsha and Sylvia dedicated their lives to creating systems of mutual care like S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) in order to protect houseless folks from state violence.
We spoke to some of the youth in our community about these events and issues and I’d like to uplift the words of Jack (it/it’s), one of our weekly Discord chat participants:
“I think first and foremost we need to stop evicting the homeless people from the streets. Where else are they gonna go? It's BS to arrest them and move their camps. I feel like the government evicting people is the worst thing they could possibly do. “
We call for the City of Asheville to affirm the Pride Proclamation with tangible actions that work towards collective liberation.
End the clearing of the camps of houseless folks in Asheville
Drop the charges against the Aston Park Defendants
Publicly voice opposition to H755 and other anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation here in NC and across the country
Support LGBTQIA+ inclusive curriculum across Asheville schools
Pay local Trans and Queer led organizations to train your staff on LGBTQIA+ issues
Fund programs that support closing health and opportunity gaps for youth of color and LGBTQIA+ youth
Youth OUTright wants public and broad acknowledgment of Pride, and we also recognize that public nicety does not equate to true equity, nor justice.
We invite all folks to engage with the history of the Trans and Queer rights movement and to support Trans and youth led movements. We will continue to create spaces for young people to explore queer history and to know our queer ancestors and transcestors, living and passed. LGBTQIA+ youth and their families, chosen, adopted and families of origin are all invited to be a part of the movement for liberation.
– The Youth OUTright Team
Adrian Parra (They/He/She), Executive Director
Beck Martens (Them/Them), Youth Program Director
Emma Anderson (She/Her), Fund Development Director