GoWomen: Pride and Prejudice

FROM THE PRESIDENT

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

In Jane Austen’s most famous novel, two lovers learn they must overcome their Achilles heels of pride and prejudice to be together. In the real world, there’s never too much pride—at least during the month of June, when we come together to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. Prejudice, however, is an unwelcome companion this year.　

While Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW) is proud to support the LGBTQIA+ community every month, this June we are extra cognizant of the prejudice, discrimination, and violence directed towards our transgender and nonbinary community members.　

We are often asked why, as a foundation for women, we support organizations focused on trans and nonbinary individuals in our funding areas. Our work is rooted in ensuring people from all gender identities can thrive in our city and uplifting the very organizations on the front lines who are holding and supporting these communities. This includes “marginalized genders.” We use the term to refer to our community of members who experience marginalization due to their gender. This group expands beyond cisgender women and includes transgender women and nonbinary people, among many other marginalized gender identities.

In a recent conversation with a group of BIPOC trans people, they shared with me that the only time their community feels “seen”—even within the larger LGBTQIA+ community—is when something terrible happens. They often see a rallying of support only after an act of violence.　

In the past few years, politicians across the country have pushed out a record number of laws attacking LGBTQIA+ rights. From banning drag shows to prohibiting teachers from educating students about queer history, it’s clear that a few hateful voices are imposing their prejudice on others.　

LGBTQIA+ advocates have called out “performative allyship.” Each year come June, organizations and brands change their logos or overlay them with rainbow colors and offer a deal or two along with the statements of support and solidarity. However, come July, the rainbows are gone and so is the urging for support of the LGBTQIA+ community. Some corporations, eager to participate in Pride celebrations when it increases profits, have withdrawn their support altogether and capitulate in the face of prejudice. Target, notably, bowed to pressure and removed some of its Pride merchandise—while other stores moved their remaining selection to more remote aisles.

Even among the many assaults against recent LGBTQIA+ rights, laws focused on excluding and controlling transgender bodies stand out as particularly egregious. In 2023 alone, 520 anti-LGBTQIA+ laws have been introduced in state legislatures, with more than 220 specifically geared at transgender and nonbinary individuals.　

Origins of Pride–Say Their Names

We owe credit to Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.　

In June 1969, police raided Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, and arrested several employees and patrons, including some who were in violation of the state’s “gender-appropriate clothing statute.” Violence broke out in response to police brutality, led in part by two trans women of color: Marsha and Sylvia. The ensuing protests are considered the catalyst to the gay rights movement; the first gay pride marches occurred in 1970 to commemorate Stonewall.　

Marsha and Sylvia went on to co-found the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries and had many other activist accomplishments. Yet they often faced discrimination from gay rights organizations led by gay men.　

More than half a century later, we see too many similar stories of prejudice, culminating in the Human Rights Campaign declaring a state of emergency for the LGBTQIA+ community in the United States. That’s why in our work at CFW, we view it as crucial to push for equity for all marginalized genders. We do this by providing grants to organizations focused on and led by both women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We also hosted Talk it Out: Moving Beyond the Binary, which took a fresh look at what it would take to move beyond the binary towards a more inclusive movement for gender equity. We can never again leave any of our sisters behind.　

As we wrap up Pride month, it’s a good time to reflect on how we can grow the good in our country by fighting for gender and racial equity. For all of us at CFW, that’s by working toward a society where people are free to express whichever gender they identify with while living safe, fruitful lives.　

Sending light and love,