In the cultural zeitgeist of the last century, California has been a bastion of queer acceptance and sanctuary. What many do not know is that the vibrant queer communities of San Francisco and Los Angeles were partially born out of “blue discharges,” an exclusionary practice of discharging homosexual service members from the United States military, which primarily occurred in WWI and WWII. 

The communities that formed from this practice were permanently marked as gay in society, unable to hide their sexuality from the public due to the nature of their discharge. This created queer sanctuaries that became uniquely empowered to fight for their own rights. And fight for their rights, they did. 

L.A. has always been at the forefront of this LGBTQIA+ rights fight, boasting the titles of being the first city in the nation to host a gay parade, to have a nationwide gay news magazine and to be home to a gay church. Today, L.A. must continue to be at the forefront of the fight for queer rights and should rely on its long memory to fight the fascism of today with the techniques of the resistance of the past. 

The clock on queer rights seems to be rewinding before our eyes to an earlier time, with rights being repealed at an alarming rate, pulling the U.S. backwards in time. Trump’s recent executive order banning transgender people from the military echoes previous attempts to keep LGBTQIA+ people out of the military, notably the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the mid ‘90s and the blue discharge of the 1940s. 

Conservative thought leaders’ rhetoric on trans rights, such as Daily Wire host Michael Knowles calling for “eradicating transgenderism from public life,” feels eerily similar to statements made during the AIDS epidemic, when many politicians and leaders called for the eradication of homosexuality from public life in the U.S. 

And just as we are terrified today about our futures and our place in the world, the queers of the past were scared too, but they prevailed and left us a blueprint to follow, paving the way for our fight today. 

One of the most effective and crucial components of the resistance of the past were grassroots organizations that led protests and provided resources for the community. One such organization was Personal Rights in Defense and Education, a radical gay advocacy group that staged protests against the Los Angeles Police Department’s treatment of the L.A. queer community. 

With LGBTQIA+ individuals still facing undue harassment and violence at the hands of police forces, previous PRIDE protests can provide inspiration on how to push back against the LAPD and other oppressive forces. 

After the New Year’s Eve raid on Black Cat Tavern in 1967, PRIDE organized a march wherein they handed out leaflets to passersby, describing the violent assault by LAPD that had occurred earlier that night. The protest included picket signs and speeches alongside the leaflets that were distributed. This isn’t where their advocacy for that night ended; PRIDE also helped raise money for those who were arrested during the raid on the Black Tavern. 

PRIDE also kept other minority groups that were facing similar instances of police brutality and harassment at the hands of the LAPD at the time at the forefront of minds, attempting to bridge the gap between their fight for equality and the fights that other minority groups were simultaneously having in L.A. 

This lesson can be applied to the protests of today, as all of our struggles are intertwined with one another’s; A gay man cannot be free until an undocumented migrant is free and vice versa. 

It is imperative that LGBTQIA+ organizations and the community as a whole work with other cross-cultural groups. 

One group in particular that is facing increased attacks and harassment is the immigrant community of L.A., which is also experiencing a gross regression of their rights. Teaming up with and supporting immigration advocacy groups could help strengthen both the LGBTQIA+ and immigrant communities’ fights against tyranny. 

One thing that has been emphasized over and over in the protests of the past for queer rights is that we must not forget to enjoy our lives in the fight for them. As we look back at the heroic fight that our elders put up, we must remember that they also took time to celebrate their queerness unapologetically. 

You cannot fight for your rights if you lose the will to fight. 

Dan Savage, an American LGBTQIA+ rights advocate, encapsulates this idea best: “During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night. The dance kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for,” Savage said.

So as we look to the past for inspiration on how to fight in the here and now, remember all of the lessons they have taught us. Remember to protest loudly, to rally behind victims, to provide mutual aid, to be intersectional — but don’t forget to party, too. 

Peyton Dacy is a junior writing about the struggles queer people face on college campuses and beyond. His column, “Lavender Letters,” runs every other Tuesday.