From Stonewall to the Repeal of "Rights": Reexamining the Queer Political Imagination and a Queer Politic of Resistance with Activist, Social Movement Historian, and Co-Founder & Editor of Against Equality, Ryan Conrad

Resistant Communiqués

From Stonewall to the Repeal of "Rights": Reexamining the Queer Political Imagination & Resistance with Activist, Social Movement Historian, & Co-Founder & Editor of Against Equality, Ryan Conrad

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From Stonewall to the Repeal of "Rights": Reexamining the Queer Political Imagination & Resistance with Activist, Social Movement Historian, & Co-Founder & Editor of Against Equality, Ryan Conrad

Exploration of queer radical approaches to "seizing the means of production of knowledge" and a militant queer politic

Resistant Communiqués Podcast

Jun 29, 2025

Happy Pride from the Resistant Communiqués Collective!

The Resistant Communiqués Collective is thrilled to present Season I, Episode II of the Resistant Communiqués Podcast this June in recognition of Pride Month, featuring an incredibly enlightening and thought-provoking episode, “From Stonewall to the Repeal of "Rights": Reexamining the Queer Political Imagination & Resistance with Activist, Social Movement Historian, & Co-Founder & Editor of Against Equality, Ryan Conrad”.

Our extraordinary guest, Ryan Conrad (he/him), is an activist and social movement historian based in West Quebec with roots in Maine. Ryan currently teaches part-time at Carleton University in Human Rights and Sexuality Studies, and he is also president of his academic labour union, Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4600. Ryan, alongside friend and frequent collaborator Yasmin Nair, founded Against Equality, an online archive, publishing, and arts collective focused on critiquing mainstream gay and lesbian politics. You can learn more about Ryan’s work on his website: faggotz.org.

In 2025, we are living during a period of rising authoritarianism in the United States. The fact that mainstream or "Beltway" LGBTQ+ politics are collapsing amid rising far-right movements demonstrates that there are lessons to be learned about queer radical history, particularly in light of experiencing a bankruptcy of queer politics.

Moreover, the application of this history can illuminate lessons that aid all of society: the harm inflicted by heteronormative and cis-gendered politics is not solely limited to the LGBTQ+ community, and reimagining these politics can and will materially benefit everyone.

In this critical Pride episode, Ryan Conrad offers an opportunity to explore what we can learn by examining an earlier era of queer activism, a more radical queer politic, and resisting LGBTQ+ Beltway politics of heteronormative assimilation. Further, in light of the recent HIV research, vaccine, and prevention program cuts in the U.S., Ryan delves into the complex interplay between the HIV Pandemic, AIDS Crisis, and Pandemic Politics. Ryan provides a fascinating analysis of the Trump administration's cuts while unearthing the critical history of the Reagan administration's negligence during the early years of the AIDS Crisis and how it amounted to genocide through state inaction, underscoring the historical and ongoing impact of biopolitical control and state abandonment.

The Against Equality digital archive is a vital and unique digital repository that critiques mainstream gay and lesbian politics, seeking to "seize the means of production of knowledge" and rejuvenate the "queer political imagination" by questioning the status quo and offering visions of transformative justice. Complementing the archive, Ryan's book (Ed.) Against Equality: Not Mere Inclusion is a must-read for anyone invested in radical queer politics.

The Against Equality: Not Mere Inclusion collection of essays challenges the mainstream LGBTQ+ movement's push for inclusion in traditional systems like marriage, the military, and prisons, arguing that such inclusion often masks systemic injustices rather than addressing them. Conrad and his fellow contributors advocate for a queer revolution that is not content with mere assimilation but seeks to restructure the societal norms at their core that perpetuate inequality and oppression. Together, these works urge readers to reexamine the goals of queer activism and movements, moving beyond the rhetoric of "equality" and towards genuine liberation and systemic change for everyone.

The Resistant Communiqués Collective chose to utilize this Pride episode of the Resistant Communiqués Podcast to reexplore the radical roots and history of Pride and the necessity of radical queer movements engaged in resistance that focus on more than just "mere inclusion" into heteronormative and cisnormative society and instead on the material needs of LGBTQ+ communities and critiques of Beltway LGBTQ+ politics in the United States and to reflect on what that legacy means today.

Pride falls on June 28 each year, as June 28, 1969, marks the beginning of the Stonewall Uprising. However, the Pride Parade in Manhattan, New York City, the largest (and most corporatized) Pride Parade in the U.S., takes place on the last Sunday of June. So, instead of publishing this special, extended episode for Pride on our usual last Saturday of the month, we opted to publish it today, Sunday, June 30, 2025. We hope you enjoy and learn from this episode as much as we do.

Are you interested in watching the entire interview?

Lastly, the Resistant Communiqués Podcast is a grassroots digital repository and knowledge hub project that archives crucial People's and Resistance History for our collective memory and understanding of our past and present, in the wake of book bans and political attacks on education.

Therefore, receiving paid subscriptions to offset some of our high overhead costs is an unexpected and welcome development for us at Resistant Communiqués Collective, for which we are incredibly grateful. We are still orienting ourselves to paid subscribers while ensuring that we provide what we originally intended to be entirely free from the Resistant Communiqués Podcast, a monthly episode on People's and Resistance History, accompanied by a thematic multimedia syllabus for continued study.

As one of our paid subscribers stated in a kind note,

"You are critical to what is to be done...”

-A.M.

For now, we decided that a way to provide something meaningful to those donating to the Resistant Communiqués Podcast without altering our mission is to offer our dedicated paid subscribers behind-the-scenes, complete, long-form videos of our interviews, starting with this episode. Interview video production is new to us, so it will take us a moment to get accustomed to it. We appreciate your patience. Ryan Conrad's interview video is available to our paid subscribers, and they will receive a follow-up email from us via Substack. If you are a free subscriber, we have enabled the "7-day free trial" option for you.

Most significantly, we would like to thank our new paid subscribers.

Your contributions are vital in helping cover high overhead costs, such as purchasing podcasting software for producing higher-quality recordings and equipment, as well as utilizing advanced design tools for creating vibrant promotional materials. The investments we have made, as well as those made by others, into the Resistant Communiqués Podcast, help us continue to engage and educate our audience, especially younger generations eager for radical People's and Resistance History interviews and insights.

The Resistant Communiqués Collective will share more details about subscriptions to support this work, along with the benefits subscribers will receive, in a future non-podcast episode. Nevertheless, please know that your support enables our grassroots project to continue growing, documenting, archiving, and sharing essential People's and Resistance History with everyone.

Thank you so much for your support.

Listen, share, and study with us using the multimedia syllabus below.

Luta,
Resistant Communiqués Collective
Learn more about Resistant Communiqués on the About page (here).
Accessibility: The transcript for this episode is available.

Multimedia Syllabus

From Stonewall to the Repeal of LGBTQ+ "Rights": Reexamining the Queer Political Imagination and a Politic of Resistance with Activist, Social Movement Historian, and Co-Founder and Editor of Against Equality, Ryan Conrad

Note: This is not an exhaustive bibliography; it serves as a starting point for further research.

History of Pride

Ferguson, R. A. (2019). One-Dimensional Queer. Polity Press.
HarlemCLX (Director). (2022, June 14). Sylvia Rivera’s Statement on the PRIDE Movement in 2001. YouTube. [Video recording].
KQED Arts. (2016, July 21). Screaming Queens | KQED Truly CA. YouTube. [Video recording].
Levin, S. (2019, June 21). Compton’s Cafeteria riot: a historic act of trans resistance, three years before Stonewall. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/21/stonewall-san-francisco-riot-tenderloin-neighborhood-trans-women
Irene Fernández de Lara Ambrosio (Director). (2023, March 11). Sylvia Rivera: “Y’all Better Quiet Down”. 1973 Gay Pride Rally NYC (Spanish Subtitles). YouTube. [Video recording].
Schlaffer, N. (2016, October 23). The Unsung Heroines of Stonewall: Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Femmes Fatales. https://sites.psu.edu/womeninhistory/2016/10/23/the-unsung-heroines-of-stonewall-marsha-p-johnson-and-sylvia-rivera/
Willis, R. (2019, May 21). How Sylvia Rivera created the blueprint for Transgender Organizing. Out Magazine. https://www.out.com/pride/2019/5/21/how-sylvia-rivera-created-blueprint-transgender-organizing

Politics of Inclusion, Exclusion, and "Equality"

Chávez, K., Conrad, R., Nair, Y., & Against Equality. (2014). Against Equality, Against Capitalism: Towards an Economic Critique of Gay Marriage. In After Homosexual: The Legacies of Gay Liberation (pp. 393–400). essay, UWA Publishing.
Read paywall-free: https://www.academia.edu/7840925/Against_Equality_Against_Capitalism_Towards_an_Economic_Critique_of_Gay_Marriage
Conrad, R., & Against Equality (Eds.). (2014). Against Equality: Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion. AK Press.
Please find this in your local library: https://search.worldcat.org/title/858603259
Weiss, M. (2014). “Reinvigorating the Queer Political Imagination”: A Roundtable with Ryan Conrad, Yasmin Nair, and Karma Chávez of Against Equality. In Against Equality: Not Mere Inclusion (pp. 845–849). essay, AK Press.
Read paywall-free: https://www.academia.edu/34416136/_Reinvigorating_the_Queer_Political_Imagination_A_Roundtable_with_Ryan_Conrad_Yasmin_Nair_and_Karma_Ch%C3%A1vez_of_Against_Equality

Pandemic Politics

Chávez, Karma R. (2021). The Borders of AIDS: Race, Quarantine, and Resistance. University of Washington Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1rdtwzp
Conrad, R. (2020). O’Canada: HIV Not Welcome Here. K. Chávez & E. Luibhéid (Eds.), Queer and Trans Migrations: Dynamics of Illegalization, Detention, and Deportation. Part III: Resisting/Refusing, Chapter 9: Bridging Immigration Justice and Prison Abolition. Dissident Feminist Series. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Read paywall-free: https://www.academia.edu/44485711/O_Canada_HIV_Not_Welcome_Here
Crimp, D. (2011, December 10). Before Occupy: How AIDS Activists Seized Control of the FDA in 1988. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/12/before-occupy-how-aids-activists-seized-control-of-the-fda-in-1988/249302
Doctors Without Borders. (2018, June). Spotlight on: Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement | Médecins Sans Frontières Access Campaign. Médecins Sans Frontières Access Campaign. https://msfaccess.org/spotlight-trans-pacific-partnership-agreement
Fiasco. (2023, June 9). The AIDS Crisis: Episode 1 - Gay Plague (1) [Podcast]. Retrieved from
SoundAndVision (Director). (2023, November 5). Freddie Mercury Talking About AIDS & Lifestyle Modifications (1987)—YouTube [Video recording].
Ledley, F., Cleary, E., & Jackson, M. (2020, September 2). US Tax Dollars Funded Every New Pharmaceutical in the Last Decade. Institute for New Economic Thinking. https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/us-tax-dollars-funded-every-new-pharmaceutical-in-the-last-decade
Meller, A. (2019, August 30). How Big Pharma Reaps Profits While Hurting Everyday Americans. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/big-pharma-reaps-profits-hurting-everyday-americans/
Nessouli, A., & Thrasher, S. W. (2025, January 22). Queer, HIV-Positive, and Running Out of Medication in Gaza. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2025/01/13/israel-gaza-war-hiv-aids-medication/
Open Borders Conference (Director). (2021, November 6). (EN) 2021 Open Borders Conference—Keynote Speaker Karma Chávez. YouTube. [Video recording].

Pinkwashing, LGBTQ+ Militarism, & Queer Military Industrial Complex (MIC) Resistance

Lesbians and Gays Against Intervention (LAGAI). (1992). We Like Our Queers Out of Uniform. Faggotz. https://faggotz.org/againstequality/We_Like_Our_Queers_Out_Of_Uniform.pdf
Meronek, T. (2018, April 30). Queer anti-war activists challenge military inclusion. Waging Nonviolence. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2018/04/queer-antiwar-military-inclusion/
Merryman-Lotze, M. (2025, June 3). 5 things you need to know about what’s happening in Israel and Gaza . American Friends Service Committee. https://afsc.org/news/5-things-you-need-know-about-whats-happening-israel-and-gaza
Throughline. (2019, July 11). Four Days In August. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/07/10/740510559/four-days-in-august

Queer Activism, Oral Histories, & Cultivating a Culture of Queer Resistance

ACT UP Oral History. (2020, March 25). United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. YouTube. [Video recording].
Against Equality Collective. (2011). Against Equality [Against Equality]. Against Equality. Retireved from https://www.againstequality.org/
Coble, M. (2014). Protest in Pride. 2014 Gothenburg LGBTQ-Festival, Gothenburg, Sweden. Retrieved from https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/handle/2077/37808/gupea_2077_37808_7.pdf;jsessionid=836065FE21290C0E909CABF21EDF127C?sequence=7
Larson, Z. (2023, June 28). ACT UP's Radical Activism Saved Lives During the AIDS Epidemic | Teen Vogue [Teen Vogue]. Teen Vogue. Retrieved from https://www.teenvogue.com/story/act-up-aids-activism
Lesbians and Gays Against Intervention (LAGAI). (n.d.). LAGAI for Queer Revolution Now. LAGAI For Queer Revolution Now. Retireved from http://www.lagai.org/
Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive. (2019, June 6). Stonewall 55: Episode 1: Prelude to a Riot (1) [Podcast]. Retrieved from https://makinggayhistory.org/podcast/stonewall-50-episode-1-prelude-to-a-riot/
Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive. (2019, June 13). Stonewall 55: Episode 2 – “Everything Clicked… And the Riot Was On” [Podcast]. Retrieved from https://makinggayhistory.org/podcast/stonewall-50-episode-2-everything-clicked-and-the-riot-was-on/
Shull, T. & Hammami, J. (2024). Resistance Archiving: Reflections on the IMMPrint Detention Stories Project. A. Aldama & J. Ordaz (Eds.). Resistance and Abolition in the Borderlands: Confronting Trump's Reign of Terror. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
Read paywall-free: https://www.academia.edu/121143638/Resistance_Archiving_Reflections_on_the_IMM_Print_Detention_Stories_Project

Explore: Mapping

O’Neal, S. (2023, November 17). Gaza’s Queer Palestinians Fight to Be Remembered. The Nation. Retrieved from https://www.thenation.com/article/world/gaza-queering-the-map/
Queering The Map. (n.d.). Queering The Map [Queering The Map]. Queering The Map. Retrieved from https://www.queeringthemap.com/

Listen to Music of the 1969 Stonewall Riots Era

Marvin Gaye (Director). (2016, November 8). Marvin Gaye—I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Live). YouTube. [Video recording].
MrHaagsesjonny1 (Director). (2021, February 1). 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 | 𝗔𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗨𝗦 ♒︎ 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗜𝗻—[Extended] [Video].
The Ed Sullivan Show (Director). (2021, April 8). Diana & The Supremes “No Matter What Sign You Are” on The Ed Sullivan Show [Original Aired: May 11, 1969]. YouTube. [Video recording]. Ed Sullivan Show | CBS.

Additional works and themes mentioned in the episode

Beaumont, P. (2015, July 30). Man stabs people at Gay Pride March in Jerusalem for second time. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/30/up-to-six-stabbed-at-gay-pride-march-in-jerusalem
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. (2017). Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex. Duke University Press.