alright everyone it’s time for the Thread Of Context so prepare yourselves

cw // homophobia, slur usage, mention of the AIDS crisis and its deaths

[BEGIN THREAD] https://twitter.com/mitskifan42/status/1307760175705714688

first, let me add an image description:

Four men are holding green and orange signs outside the 1993 Washington DC Dyke March. The signs, from left to right, read “Cocksuckers for Muffdivers”, “Go Girls Go!”, “We Like Dykes”, and “Fags in Support of Dykes”

the 70s and 80s led to some of the most significant LGBT coalitions:
1970 - Gay Liberation Front (subset of the Black Panthers)
1978 - National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays
1980 - National Association of Black and White Men Together
1980 - Dykes Against Racism Everywhere

the lesbian activist movement is said to have began in the united states with the Daughters of Bilitis in 1950s San Francisco, but lesbian activist groups didn’t reach levels of political visibility like this until the 1970s

in the very early 70s, with the formation of the National Organisation for Women (or NOW), the inclusion of lesbians in the organisation was initially questioned, stemming the origin of the phrase “lavender menace” and resulting in the removal of all lesbians from NOW

the national president at the time had expressed ideas that she was very uncomfortable with lesbianism and in 1970, women wearing shirts with the phrase “Lavender Menace” (later calling themselves the Radicalesbians) penned a work called “The Woman-Identified-Woman”

this group read their paper at the 1970 Congress to Unite Women, sparking moves for lesbian inclusion in feminist activism

in 1977, the NOW issued a statement referred to as the National Plan of Action, urging the legal acceptance of gays and lesbians in society

now at this time in the early 80s, gay and lesbian activist movements were largely separated, rather than unified under a common cause. this was due to multiple causes, particularly due to misogyny from gay men and transphobia against trans lesbians

[in the above tweet, “trans” refers to anyone who does not identify as cisgender]

also, any sort of “gay rights” movements recognised by a wider society were very centred on gay cis men and excluded women and trans people from their advocacy. at this time, the acronym used to refer to the community began with the G [most groups used GLB or GLBT]

as these gay and lesbian activist groups developed, the AIDS crisis began to take place, with the first public acknowledgement of HIV in 1981 as “a homosexual’s disease” as, at the time, 5 ‘active homosexuals’ all tested for HIV

at the time, under a reagan presidency, funding and research dedicated to the curbing and stopping of HIV/AIDS, so near nothing was known about this mysterious “gay disease” disproportionately affecting gay men of colour and trans women, as well as sex workers.

this led to a terrifying “crisis” in which staggeringly large amounts of LGBT+ were dying from (what we now are able to consider) a preventable condition

since this is the 1980s, the government has no interest in helping those “filthy queers” and their “gay diseases” [sarcasm], so lesbian activist groups began to join the fight against AIDS in the form of nurse groups dedicated to treating and caring for those with HIV

these groups of lesbian activists held food drives, demonstrations and marches, and provided medical care for those affected by HIV, and this sparked gay/lesbian solidarity in the united states. they even donated blood when hospitals refused to! thank you, lesbians!

this was an overwhelmingly sincere and significant gesture of solidarity. after the aids crisis “ended” [it hasn’t ended] in the early 1990s, gay and lesbian solidarity was at unforeseen highs

as a gesture of admiration and respect for the lesbian activism of the aids crisis, as well as a commitment to the visibility of lesbians, the acronym was arranged so the L in LGBT was the first letter in the acronym

rewind back to 1976 quick and Soni Wolf founds a group of lesbian bikers in San Francisco. she fought the US Trademark Office for the right to trademark her organisation’s name and logo. this organisation was known as the Dykes on Bikes

soni wolf’s commitment and dedication to preserving the usage of her organisation’s name was an act of reclamation and visibility for the Dykes on Bikes. Soni Wolf unfortunately passed away in 2018, and her legacy is memorialised in the Stonewall National Monument

in 1981, the very first demonstration of what would come to be the Dyke March was held in Vancouver. a group of activists called Lesbians Against the Right organised a march [NOT A PARADE! VERY MUCH NOT A PARADE!] called Dykes in the Streets in toronto later that year

also in 1987 we see the foundation of ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power, inarguably one of the most essential groups in terms of LGBT activism in the 80s and 90s. the group was open to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and trans people [who sometimes self-IDed as transsexual]

fast forwarding back to Washington DC in 1993 and we have the very first explicitly-named Dyke March. this march was organised by a group of lesbian activists known as the Lesbian Avengers [which is SO FUCKING BADASS]

the march was held during [keyword: during!] the March On Washington For Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. at this time, gay men recognised that this was a loud, all out, powerful and significant celebration of lesbian visibility

this image is more than “annoying gays using slurs”. this image is a significant artefact of lgbt history and a demonstration of lesbian/gay unity in the early 1990s.

the second man in the image, holding the GO GIRLS GO! sign is David Feinberg, a jewish AIDS activist associated with ACT UP. less than a year after this image was taken, he died of AIDS. may his memory and legacy live on forever, peace be upon him.

[END OF THREAD]