“The Queer population, in addition to others in the 60s and 70s, fought against the State and Capitalism, in large part because they had no material connection to the State. Queers found themselves outside of the nuclear family structure and the light of mainstream acceptance. This is why you see the great flight to San Francisco happen; this is why you see San Francisco become a Mecca of all things Gay. A home was needed and a home was found. This home, ironically, is the most symbolic of the radical change that happened in the Queer population in the last 40-50 years.
The Castro disctrict in San Francisco now stands as the most alienating piece of land to anyone that finds himself or herself not a rich, white, gay male. It is a destination for global tourism and one of the city’s biggest moneymakers. Commodities line the windows of almost every store and you’d be lucky to find a flat here that is under 4,000 dollars. A few years back, the residents of the Castro district refused to have a youth center be built in the neighborhood because it would ‘bring down property value,’ in their own words. The Castro is the perfect symbol of the complete bankruptcy and the co-option of the Queer Rights movement. Tourism and profit stand over the lives and safety of youth who desperately need to escape from their abusive families. This is what happens when the Queers desire to become mainstream. It becomes an issue of ‘who can comfortably assimilate and who can’t.’ And you can see what happens to those who can’t.
My problem with the hype and pressure around DADT [Don’t Ask Don’t Tell] is that it distracts from the very things that Queer Liberation was founded on: Anti-imperialism, anti-racism, equal access to housing and health care, and struggles against patriarchy. It seems almost irrelevant to me whether or not gay soldiers can ‘come out’ in the military when the US military is not only carrying out two genocidal campaigns for US imperialism and corporate profit, but also when the war budget is draining the funds needed for almost every other service we so desperately need in this country. When I see the situation as such, not only does it become apparent to me that the Queer Movement must be anti-war, but also the movement, as is, has been hijacked by a few high-powered assimilationists dragging everyone along through corporate propaganda.”
Jones, Jamal Rashad, “Why I Won’t Be Celebrating the Repeal of DADT: Queer Soldiers are Still Agents of Genocide,” in Against Equality: Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion, ed. Ryan Conrad, 142-143. Chico, California: AK Press, 2014.
