Gay Liberation Front Statement

I've often wondered had I lived in NYC during Stonewall or the height of the AIDS crisis, would I have stood with my siblings in the fight? Would I have marched, sat in, laid down, yelled, stood shoulder to shoulder? Surely, I tell myself. Surely I would have found the fury and the courage.

I thought of this question again over the holiday weekend when I saw a post from my friend Perry Brass, who shared the following statement on behalf of former members of NYC's Gay Liberation Front. It serves as a reminder of what we've stood against and a roadmap of how we can do it now.

Consider me a co-signer. - BRYAN BORLAND

-----

Gay Liberation Front Statement

July 4, 2025

We, the undersigned, former members of New York’s Gay Liberation Front, condemn the Trump administration and its supporters in all levels of government for their vicious attacks on our community and on other marginalized communities.

The Gay Liberation Front was the first and most radical LGBTQ+ organization formed directly after the Stonewall Uprising in June, 1969. Our guiding message, equal inclusion of all people into society and the body politic, is even more urgent today.

One of the administration’s first targets was the transgender community. It is attempting to eject them from the military. Trans people seeking to renew their passports are now faced with the indignity of having their pre-transition gender stamped on the documents. Ten states now deny them appropriate medical care.

The administration is encouraging a climate of hatred that has led to increased violence against trans people.

The Trump administration has cut funds for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, both in the United States and abroad. This will result in a worldwide increase in disease and death—an increase that will not stop at our borders.

The administration has removed the “T” and the “Q” from the Stonewall National Monument, erasing a core part of our history. It removed Navy veteran Harvey Milk’s name from a Navy vessel. It has mandated removing any mention of queers, Black people, and other minorities from government websites. Before a public outcry reversed its decisions, it had deleted information about Black, Hispanic, and female military heroes—even the Navajo code talkers.

In its colossal bigotry and stupidity, the administration even removed a photo of the Enola Gay, the airplane that dropped the first atomic bomb—because it included the word “Gay.”

School districts across the country are under siege. With the support of Republican politicians, schools and libraries have banned books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, and by women, as well as books about racism, sexuality, and gender, and any histories that do not support right-wing jingoism. Since 2021, over 4,000 titles have been removed from school library shelves.

Members of the Gay Liberation Front have always organized and participated in political demonstrations—not just for gay rights, but for civil rights and women’s rights, and against war and any injustice. An attack on one is an attack on all.

Both Trump administrations have launched ferocious assaults on dissenters and demonstrators exercising their First Amendment rights. Their masked thugs have snatched people off the streets, zip-tied them, and thrown them into unmarked cars.

The Trump administration has attacked immigrants, including those here legally. Its thugs have even arrested Navajos in New Mexico and Arizona, demanding they prove their citizenship. In Wisconsin, they arrested Puerto Ricans for the crime of speaking Spanish in public.

Both Trump administrations have behaved in an especially inhumane manner toward people crossing our border to escape dangers in their countries of origin. Tens of thousands of migrants have been thrown into overcrowded “detention camps,” where the only place to sleep is on the floor. They are often denied food for days. There are no facilities for showering and no medical care.

During the first administration, children were forcibly torn from their parents. As many as 1,360 have never been reunited. Now the administration is shipping migrants to torture prisons at Guantánamo Bay and El Salvador, and to countries suffering extreme violence and instability.

The administration plans to build more such “detention camps” on military bases. Let’s call them what they are: concentration camps. And when they’re done deporting migrants, foreign students, and work visa holders, they will have lots of empty cells to fill and lots of private prison corporations to pay for their “services.”

Who will they come after next? Our queer communities are high on the list, along with political opponents, people of color, the disabled, and many more. The Trump-engineered majority on the Supreme Court overturned women’s reproductive rights, and certain members have suggested overturning marriage equality.

We must unite to stop them.

If you’re waiting for the right time to stand up and be counted among those who resisted fascism, that time is now.

Dennis Altman Ron Auerbacher Paola Bacchetta

Mark Berenson Perry Brass Ellen Broidy

Jane Cohen Steven F. Dansky John Erdman

Jessica Falstein Bruce Gottfried Donna Gottschalk

Michaela Griffo Mark Horn Karla Jay

Dajenya Kafele John Knoebel Richard Koob

Giles Kotcher Larry Kovacs Richard M. Landman

Nestor Latronico Michael J. Lavery Barbara J. Maggiani

Flavia Rando Marc Schnapp Mark Segal

Jason Serinus Martha Shelley Dennis Siple

Steve Turtell Kathy/Kathleen Wakeham Allen Young

Frank Zimbardi