ABSTRACT
This chapter makes the argument that a separate queer social movement has emerged, led by LGBTQ organizations that are run by people of color, transgender people, immigrants, and/or low-income people. DeFilippis analyzes staff interviews, mission statements and promotional videos of seven such organizations to examine the underlying values and shared agenda of this separate Queer Liberation Movement (QLM). The QLM has a common analysis of the issues impacting their communities, a shared set of principles, and similar organizing strategies. They have a more intersectional, multi-issue, and radical agenda than the mainstream “gay rights” movement that dominates the public eye. The author uses a framework developed by social movement scholar William Gamson to demonstrate that the organizations in this movement choose targets that makes it distinct from that of the mainstream movement. The QLM offers a model of queer activism that is ultimately broader, more intersectional, and more justice-centered than the mainstream movement.
