I’ve been giving Christopher Street Tours since 2018. I’ve spent years in the archives, reading queer stories, listening to oral histories, and learning as much as humanly possible about queer history and the queer people who paved the way before me. And during that time, my perception of advocacy and activism has changed drastically.
I used to think that big movements were created by big people who did big things. And while it’s true that people can create big movements and do big things, I was skipping too far ahead. I glimpsed over the how too briefly. How did that big movement start? Who was the person behind it who asked…”now what?”
I’ve learned that capital b “Big Activism” can actually be broken down into something much smaller: One person, or a small collective of people, who ask “now what?” What can we do? How can we move forward? Sometimes, it’s something that they’ve never done before, or have no idea how to do, but more often than not, it’s people using the talents and skills they already have, coupled with a newfound passion or idea, that starts creating positive social change. I don’t think most people set out to change the world, but it starts with a small ripple in the community that sometimes has the potential to grow even bigger.
On our tours, I used to end the experience with a nice, pretty, sanitized story about marriage equality, and how far we’ve come in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. At some point, I stopped doing that. It didn’t feel real or genuine or authentic. LGBTQ+ history is not over. We can’t put a neat little bow on it at the end of a tour and call it a day. Instead, I now end my tours with a call to action. I say, “It’s impossible to learn everything in a two-hour tour. But hopefully, something or someone on this tour has inspired you and galvanized you. So now that we’re coming to an end, I encourage you all to think about what comes next. Now what?”
The closing of Pride Month evokes a similar feeling. Pride Month may be over, but a simple call to action is reflecting on the question and asking yourself now what? How can we take the energy, spirit, and fight during Pride Month and carry it with us all year long?
To learn more about Pride, activism, and small collectives making big change, check out our Village Pride walking tour.
