Militant LGBTQ youth confront Tea Party

Tea Party followers likely thought they could hold a virulently anti-gay rally on Boston Common on April 15 to freely spew their hatred. They were wrong.

Hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer activists and supporters shouted down Tea Party speakers for two hours and refused to back down despite the arrest of two protesters by the Boston police, who were there to defend the “free speech” rights of the anti-LGBTQ bigots. These same bigots openly displayed the racist Confederate flag and carried signs with racist slogans.

This LGBTQ protest was reminiscent of militant ACT UP actions held in Boston some 20 years ago. Wave after wave of youth marched up to and around the Tea Party stage, shouting at the speakers, “Tea Party bigots go away! Racist, sexist, anti-gay!”

A “Queer Army” banner was proudly carried by one youth group while a contingent of Black Block anti-fascists marched directly into the ranks of the all-white, Tea Party crowd. They were joined by dozens of militant LGBTQ youth. Two were arrested while their comrades surrounded the arresting officers, shouting, “Let them go! Let them go!”

A leader of one of the youth contingents was grabbed by the throat by one of the cops but was not arrested. The attack was posted on Flickr and on the Boston Globe website. Despite this assault, the youth went to the jail to aid in bailing out the arrestees.

The protest chants rose to a thundering pitch when fascist, anti-gay bigot Scott Lively began to speak. In 2009, Lively, a white man, organized a group of right-wing, fundamentalist preachers to go to Uganda and influence the parliament there to propose legislation calling for the execution of gay people. Attacks on Ugandan LGBTQ activists and the subsequent killing of gay leader David Toka in January 2011 are a direct result of actions by Lively and other racist, anti-gay forces in the U.S. The LGBTQ movements in Uganda and worldwide have resisted Lively’s attacks and succeeded in defeating the bigoted legislation.

The protest was organized by Join the Impact/Boston, Queer Direct Action, Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition, and Stonewall Warriors.

— Report and photo by Gerry Scoppettuolo