Stonewall Liberation Organization to Massachusetts Family Institute: ‘Go to hell!’
Over 100 courageous LGBTQ2S+ activists and their supporters — including a marching band led by a tuba with bell signage reading, “Trans Rights Now!” — answered the call of Boston’s Stonewall Liberation Organization (SLO) Oct. 13. They carpooled to a remote park in the Boston suburb of Newton, then marched half a mile in the dark to a swank, secluded hotel to confront the reactionary Massachusetts Family Institute holding a convention there.
Stonewall Liberation Organization blockade at reactionary Massachusetts Family Institute banquet in Newton, Massachusetts, Oct. 13, 2023. WW Photo: Maureen Skehan
Wearing high-visibility vests and wielding flashlights, the demonstration’s leadership blockaded the hotel’s entrance, catching hotel security by surprise. They chanted, “It’s our history — don’t deny it! Stonewall was a trans riot!” Cops from multiple jurisdictions scrambled to the scene with a fire truck blaring as limousines and tour buses jammed up on the roadway.
Despite all efforts, the MFI was unable to get the fascist-minded, richest 1% of the region’s Christian right into a fundraising banquet. This failure delayed the keynote speaker, who campaigns against same-sex parenting and abortion access.
During the hour-long standoff, armed authorities had to disembark tuxedoed and furred MFI donors in the street and escort them past a picket line that proclaimed through bullhorns, “Gimme an M — M! Gimme an F — F! Gimme an I — I! What’s that spell? M***F***ing Ignorant!”
While gathering before the action, SLO spokesperson E.B. rallied the crowd: “MFI works to vilify, dehumanize and strip rights from LGBTQ+ people, women and people of color. They’re a right-wing lobby group trying to impose their particular homophobic, transphobic and misogynist interpretation of Christianity onto all.
“LGBTQ+ kids deserve to see themselves reflected in what they are taught at school, and everyone deserves autonomy over their bodies and lives. ‘When our community is under attack, we fight back!’”
SLO literature states that the group is “a revolutionary organization of LGBTQ+ people fighting for self-determination in every aspect of our lives.”
(IG stonewall_liberation_org)
