John,
In case we haven’t met yet, my name is Gabri Cabán Cubero. I’m the Southeast Regional Organizer for the Working Families Party. And I’m a queer, non-binary sex worker.
I wanted to take some time this month to pause and reflect on the significance of Pride with you.
As a memorial to the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, the first Pride has roots in resistance and protest. Led by trans women of color and sex workers, the Stonewall Uprising demanded an end to police violence toward LGBTQ people and was the birth of the modern struggle for queer liberation.
To be clear: the fight for queer liberation is inextricably linked to the struggle for sex workers' rights. Rooted in class struggle and in conflict with white supremacy, these struggles for freedom have grown out of and shaped one another.
Today, as we continue to fight for fight for queer liberation, we honor the resilience and resistance of the LGBTQ community, including queer sex workers, who continue to face attacks on their autonomy, humanity, and livelihood.
As a queer, non-binary sex worker, my struggle for queer liberation has sometimes been at complete odds with my LGBTQ work in the deep south. I have been barred from spaces because of my sex work, I have been shamed and isolated for my sex work.
The exploitation of queer people and sex workers is not reserved to cis and heteronormative spaces. Instead, heteronormativity, white supremacy, and classism have seeped into the LGBTQ struggle to such a degree that queer, Black, and brown sex workers continue to be treated like a threat to our liberation, instead of the cornerstone of our shared history and struggle.
I am not free until you are free. You are not free until I am free.
At WFP, we remain committed to dismantling white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia, and racial capitalism so that people can be their most authentic selves. But this struggle extends beyond just the month of June. To truly achieve liberation, we all have to join together and continue to build our movement.
To show that you’re in this fight with me, take a second now to join the Working Families Party by signing onto the People’s Charter — our roadmap to a better future.
We all deserve to live in a world in which we can be free. And we all deserve to be in a nation that cares for all of us. Let's build that world together.
In Solidarity,
Gabri Cabán Cubero (They/Them/Ellx)
Southeast Regional Organizer
Working Families Party
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