Activists from ACT UP and Jewish Voice for Peace stage an art-filled event at the AIDS Memorial (Photo by Alexa Wilkinson, all images courtesy of Jewish Voice for Peace and ACT UP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAhead of the grand opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, activists from ACT UP and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) dropped two banners at the New York City AIDS Memorial in Greenwich Village, calling on President Biden to stop funding Israel\u2019s ongoing attacks on Gaza.<\/p>\n
The event takes place in the early morning hours of June 28, during which Biden will visit the Lower Manhattan neighborhood, where he and other administration officials will inaugurate the new visitor center. The center, a collaboration between Pride Live and the National Park Service (NPS), has been six years in the making since President Obama designated the site of the 1969 Stonewall Riots as a national monument in 2016. Located at 51 Christopher Street, in a previously vacant storefront, the new visitor center will be the first LGBTQIA+ visitor center in the National Park System.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nAhead of the president\u2019s arrival, activists hung two white banners at the triangular AIDS memorial in St. Vincent\u2019s Triangle around 5 a.m. The fabric signs, printed with black, red and pink text, read \u201cGays to Biden: Stop Arming Israel\u201d and \u201cFrom NY to Gaza\/Stonewall is an Intifada,\u201d a reference to the Arabic word for \u201cto get rid of,\u201d historically used to describe Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. The latter sign was accompanied by a graphic of manicured hands pulling back a brick with a slingshot \u2014 a reference to the legend of the first brick thrown at police outside the Stonewall Inn during the historic uprising.<\/p>\n
“55 years ago today, our LGBTQ forefathers made history when they threw the first brick at the Stonewall Inn, kicking off the gay liberation movement,” JVP and ACT UP said in a collective text posted on Instagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile President Biden\u2019s speech today erased this radical history, protesters sought to reclaim the legacy of Stonewall as a resistance to the state violence and police brutality faced by LGBTQ+ people.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tThese banners were placed at the AIDS Memorial in the heart of Greenwich Village. (Photo by Alexa Wilkinson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\t\t\t\tActivists put up posters around the West Village calling on President Biden to stop arming Israeli forces. (Photo by Ian Bartlett)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nIn addition to the banners, activists also put up posters made of wheat paste with pink watermelon triangles, inspired by Gran Fury’s iconic “Silence = Death” slogan, and bricks wrapped in a fisherman’s net pattern, also with scarf<\/em>suggesting the overlap between the Palestinian liberation movement and the LGBTQ+ rights movement. There is also a new version of Gran Fury\u2019s \u201cAIDS-gate\u201d (1987) poster, replacing Ronald Reagan\u2019s image with Biden\u2019s, calling on the president to take action against Israel\u2019s destruction of Gaza and to stop the delivery of American weapons.<\/p>\nAllergic<\/em> The New York City AIDS Memorial and Stonewall National Monument have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\nLongtime ACT UP member and JVP activist BC Craig said in a statement that she refuses to allow her identity as a queer, Jewish person to be \u201cweaponized to justify acts of genocide,\u201d and she condemned Israel\u2019s \u201cwhitewashing,\u201d a term that describes Israel\u2019s alleged use of LGBTQ+ rights to distract from human rights violations by its military.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters in Gaza are not getting as much shelter from Israeli bombs as other Palestinians,\u201d Craig said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tLeft: Activists put up posters inspired by Glen Freeh\u2019s iconic work Silence = Death and the first brick thrown during the 1969 Stonewall Riots; Right: These posters were put up at historic sites in the West Village, such as the Cubbyhole, a major lesbian bar in Greenwich Village that opened in 1987. (Photo by Alexa Wilkinson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAccording to the latest UN report, Israel’s air strikes and multi-layered siege on the Gaza Strip have killed 37,396 Palestinians and injured more than 85,523 since Hamas launched its attack in October. Tens of thousands more are missing and are expected to be buried under the rubble of collapsed infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Miss Major, a veteran transgender activist who took part in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, criticized the president\u2019s support for Israel\u2019s ongoing assault on Gaza in a public statement, saying: \u201cThe purpose of the Stonewall Riots was to remove the police from our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGirls and boys will continue to fight, chant and march until everyone is free, including the Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n
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