Where are the protests today that we so desperately need?

A recent report published jointly by OutHistory and Queer Pasts, documents more than 600 LGBT direct actions, stated Marc Stein, a gay man who’s a history professor at San Francisco State University and the study’s lead researcher. 

For the nine years studied, Stein and his research team identified 646 direct action events, averaging 72 per year. The study cites more than 1,800 media sources from the 1960s and 1970s, the release noted. According to these sources, more than 200,000 people participated in these protests and nearly 200 were arrested.

The report includes lists of the cities, states, and months that featured the largest number of LGBTQ direct actions, along with the protests that featured the largest number of participants, the largest number of arrests, and the longest sustained actions during the period studied. The 20 largest actions involved more than 1,000 participants, the release stated.

San Francisco is at the top of the list, with 148 documented protests during the nine-year period, according to the study. It’s followed closely by New York City (142), Los Angeles (93), Washington, D.C. (43), and Chicago (40). Berkeley ranks seventh with 21. Other California cities on the list are: Kern River (near Bakersfield), with 13, and Sacramento (3). 

Perhaps its time that we all moved away from the computer and protest again.

OFF OF THE KEYBOARDS AND INTO THE STREETS!