Early morning on December 8th, 2011, at Archie’s Bar on Iowa and Rockwell Streets in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, several queer community members and a bar employee were physically assaulted during an event organized for and by LGBTQ people. As it has been reported that hate speech was used during this incident, we believe that these folks were targeted because of their queerness. To the best of our knowledge, no significant action was taken by the proprietors of Archie’s until a statement was released on Facebook two weeks later — after queer community members, mostly under the name of the Pink Panther Justice Bureau, began raising awareness.
We condemn violence. We condemn violence against queer people because they are queer. We also condemn the dismissal and silencing of survivors of violence – and as such, we write this letter in solidarity with the survivors of the aforementioned assault. We stand in solidarity as they pursue a course of action to reinstate a sense of safety and well-being for themselves and their fellow queer people. We also stand in solidarity with their decision to make the account public by coming forward to local police.
We acknowledge that many members of our community have contentious relationships with the police, who have often antagonized and actively persecuted queers, people of color, trans and gender non-conforming people, activists, people with disabilities, sex workers and other members of our community. Whatever our personal relationships with the police may be, it is still necessary to support our community members when they seek help or protection from violence via police or the state. By maintaining a vocal, supportive, and watchful presence, we can increase awareness of hate crimes, and work towards ensuring that survivors of violence are not re-victimized or further antagonized by coming forward to the authorities.
We also acknowledge that there are many survivors of anti-queer violence who decide not to pursue legal action or otherwise make incidences of violence public. This means that as a community of queer people, we need to demand the full and unconditional support of the establishments and venues we frequent. As organizers and participants in local queer events, we must support each other when our larger social, economic, or legal systems fail to do so. If harassment or violence occurs at any of the parties listed below, we hope that you feel comfortable bringing these situations to us, in a private or public fashion. We promise to respect and abide by your decision on whether or not to make the incident, your identity, or any other information public as long as it does not pose a potential risk for others. We will work with you to hold those responsible accountable and to begin the process of healing.
We firmly believe in creating safe spaces for our community and allies to live, socialize, and work. We know that this is a promise we cannot fulfill without the participation of everyone involved, especially the owners, managers and staff of venues which host queer events. We also know that regardless of our collective good intentions, the world can still creep in and become disruptive and that even the safest space can become unsafe. This is why we must stand together, support each other, and continue to have conversations amongst one another that look toward a future that is both more inclusive and free from bigotry and abuse. We must be willing to call out those individuals and establishments that silence and deny support to survivors of violence, while also turning well-intended mistakes into an opportunity to grow together, discuss solutions, and rebuild safe and loving spaces together.
Written with love by the organizers of Chances Dances:
Rita Bacon, Allison Burque, Aay Preston-Myint, Erik Roldan, Ethan White and Latham Zearfoss