By: Susan Docekal, Seattle FSP.
A colorful, multiracial contingent in Seattle's gay pride march, carrying a banner emblazoned with “Love Knows No Borders: Unite for Queer and Immigrant Rights” and chanting “No Minutemen, no KKK, no fascist U.S.A.," was met with boisterous cheers by onlookers.
But before arriving at the Queer Fest that concluded the parade, the contingent peeled off and walked from Seattle's gay Capitol Hill neighborhood to the Federal Building downtown to protest anti-immigrant groups, including the Minutemen, who
had called a racist "March for America" rally for the same day, June 23.
Waving rainbow banners and flags representing many nations, the contingent picked up supporters along the way and converged with other anti-fascist protesters at the Federal Building, just as the nationalist “March for America” reached the plaza.
“Police prevented us from entering the plaza, so we set up a picket directly
across the street and chanted at top volume, drowning out the racist rally
speakers,” said Elias Holtz, a young gay protest leader with the Freedom
Socialist Party, “and the Minutemen packed up after 45 minutes and left.”
Afterward gays and straights, immigrants, Latinos, African Americans,
Asian Americans and whites celebrated with an impromptu victory rally.
“I'm so proud of what we accomplished” smiled Gary Perry, a Black
community activist who had marched down from the pride parade, “and its
refreshing to see the socialist, gay, labor, peace and church groups
working together here. After all, these bigots are the same people who also
oppose gay equality, reproductive freedom and the antiwar movement.”
“We had planned the Love Knows No Borders contingent before we
learned about the so-called "March for America,” Seattle Radical Women
Organizer Christina López told the crowd, “but when we found out about
the Minutemen's plans, three days before gay pride, Radical Women and
the Freedom Socialist Party, put out a call for a counter-protest."
She said that folks from the Seattle Anti-Imperialist Committee and union
members from Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity joined the Capitol
Hill contingent which then met up downtown with the International Socialist
Organization (ISO). ISO had followed the Minutemen from their original
meeting point at the Space Needle.
The cooperation demonstrated among these groups shows the import-
ance of working collaboratively” added López, “because in just two days
we were able muster 100 counter-protesters, which equaled the number
of people the Minutemen turned out after weeks of organizing.”
The March for America was part of a national effort by a coalition of anti-
immigration groups, including the Minutemen. A Northwest white power
organization also publicized the Seattle event on their website. March for
America opposes amnesty, and calls for securing the borders and
“protecting American culture and the English language.” Although Minute-
men have been organizing in Washington State for some time along the
Canadian border and in the eastern part of the state where there is a large
Latino farm worker population, this is the first major action they have
attempted in Seattle.
The pictures below show the marchers in the gay pride parade and protesting the Minutemen.
The last picture is of the Minutemen at the Seattle Federal Building across the street from the protesters. Their banner is a provocation against Mexican immigrants:
Aztlán is what the Chicano movement named the lands stolen by the U.S. following the 1846 war against Mexico.
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