Bash Back! News

It’s been twenty years since the publication of “Queers Read This”. For those not in the know this particular text is what launched so many radical queer movements, including the infamous Queer Nation.  some of the ideas found in this are dated but it’s good to remember our origins.    Happy 20th queers.

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                      QUEERS READ THIS

         A leaflet distributed at pride march in NY
              Published anonymously by Queers

                         June, 1990

   How can I tell you. How can I convince you, brother,
sister that your life is in danger:  That everyday you wake
up alive, relatively happy, and a functioning human being,
you are committing a rebellious act. You as an alive and
functioning queer are a revolutionary.
   There is nothing on this planet that validates, protects
or encourages your existence.  It is a miracle you are
standing here reading these words.  You should by all rights
be dead.  Don't be fooled, straight people own the world and
the only reason you have been spared is you're smart, lucky
or a fighter.
   Straight people have a privilege that allows them to do
whatever they please and fuck without fear.  But not only do
they live a life free of fear; they flaunt their freedom in
my face.  Their images are on my TV, in the magazine I
bought, in the restaurant I want to eat in, and on the
street where I live.  I want there to be a moratorium on
straight marriage, on babies, on public displays of
affection among the opposite sex and media images that
promote heterosexuality.  Until I can enjoy the same freedom
of movement and sexuality, as straights, their privilege
must stop and it must be given over to me and my queer
sisters and brothers.  Straight people will not do this
voluntarily and so they must be forced into it.  Straights
must be frightened into it. Terrorized into it.  Fear is the
most powerful motivation. No one will give us what we
deserve.  Rights are not given they are taken, by force if
necessary.  It is easier to fight when you know who your
enemy is.  Straight people are your enemy.  They are your
enemy when they don't acknowledge your invisibility and
continue to live in and contribute to a culture that kills
you. Every day one of us is taken by the enemy.  Whether
it's an AIDS death due to homophobic government inaction or
a lesbian bashing in an all-night diner (in a supposedly
lesbian neighborhood).
 (more...)

06/07/10: The Laurentian Bank was attacked in the middle of the night. The atms, windows and sign were smashed with a hammer and rocks. An attempt was also made to obscure one of their cameras with paint bombs. The words “Solidarity with the G20 arrestees” were painted on the bank`s wall.

Solidarity with the G20 resistance. Don`t back down in the face of repression.

-anarchists

A Tacoma police patrol car was vandalized early today parked outside the officer’s North End home, the department reported.

The car’s windows were smashed out and three of the tires slashed. The vandals spraypainted the rear panel and trunk area with the words, “Oscar Grant was here,” Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

The officer interrupted the vandals, who ran off. A police dog searched the area but didn’t find the suspects, Fulghum said.

The vandals were described as men wearing hooded sweatshirts. The patrol car was towed to Tacoma police headquarters for processing, Fulghum said.

The graffiti was a reference to the fatal shooting of Grant in California early on Jan. 1, 2009. He was not armed. The officer was found not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter Thursday. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

The verdict led to protests and scores of arrests overnight in Oakland.

OLYMPIA – An apparent anti-police arsonist entered the new City Hall, used some kind of chemical accelerant and set fire to a stack of construction materials, causing an undetermined amount of damage and setting back a $35.6 million project that had been on schedule.

Firefighters were called to the four-story building under construction in the 600 block of Fourth Avenue East at 5:34 a.m. Thursday. They put the fire out within minutes, but the damage was done. The fire, though confined to one room, spread smoke through the building, blackening new drywall. It also melted wiring on the first and second floors.

It’s unclear when the fire was started, but it was after workers had quit for the day on Wednesday.

The fire was set in what will become the police department’s squad room, said Rick Dougherty, project manager for the new City Hall.

“(Expletive) PIGS” was spraypainted in red on one of the walls outside the room where the fire started.

“To think it was caused by someone deliberately is really disappointing,” City Manager Steve Hall said. “We don’t know a whole lot yet about how it started … or when.”

No one at the scene was injured. Police were investigating the fire as suspicious.

Construction workers arriving on the job Thursday morning discovered the blaze and called 911. The Olympia Fire Department was dispatched at 5:34 a.m. and arrived at 5:37 a.m. The fire was reported out at 5:49 a.m.

An estimate of the damage probably won’t be ready until today, Dougherty said. Investigators were expected to be on the site Thursday from insurance companies for both the city and the contractor, Hoffman Construction.

Dougherty said he didn’t want to speculate about how long the fire would set the project back. No work was done on the site while fire and police departments investigated. City employees were expected to move into the new City Hall at the beginning of next year.

Dougherty said it was the second attempt in two days to set a part of the site ablaze. On Wednesday, a Hoffman employee discovered that someone had tried to set fire to a construction trailer where the company has makeshift offices. The small fire singed the corner of the trailer but did no significant damage.

Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said police had been made aware of that fire, and had stepped up patrols Wednesday night in the area. He said police would remain on alert. Private security and surveillance cameras may be brought in, he said.

Such anti-police sentiments are not uncommon among vandals.

“We get a lot of anti-police graffiti,” Bjornstad said.

Dougherty said that there have been minor incidents of vandalism at the site before — some construction signs tagged or stolen. But nothing serious.

“It’s a rough neighborhood,” he said. The new City Hall is being built there, in part, to change that, he said.

The fire won’t affect plans for street improvements around the building, Dougherty said. The right-turn-only lane on Fourth Avenue to Plum Street will remain closed from Jefferson Street to just past the Chestnut Street intersection. Parking on the south side of Fourth Avenue between Jefferson Street and Plum Street will be restricted.

By Thursday afternoon, police still had no suspects, Bjornstad said.

“I think our best hope is a tip of some kind,” he said.

At 10pm protesters marched from Peninsula Park occupying the streets and demonstrating against the police as a result of the verdict given to Oakland Police Officer Johannes Mehserle who killed Oscar Grant January 1st 2009. Portland, USA. 08/07/2010

Oakland BART police officer Johannes Mehserle fired a single shot in Oscar Grant’s back and proceeded to handcuff him as he lay down in his own blood. What made this case so important is the overwhelming amount of evidence that was take by bystanders at the time. Although the police made every effort to confiscate any footage that would incriminate them and sweep yet another brutal case under the carpet, footage spread all over the internet and made the mainstream media. Riots ensued in the following days in Oakland and the police were unable to control the situation, forcing the Mayor and District Attorney to arrest and charge Mehserle.

Today Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not 2nd degree murder, or 1st degree murder as many would have desired. Portlanders mobilised at short notice to speak out against the police and the fresh verdict, marching to Martin Luther King Boulevard from the park shouting, “ACAB – All coppers are bastards” amongst other terms. The police were all over the scene, monitoring beforehand from afar as people gathered for the event. A number of windows were smashed at a Bank of America on Martin Luther King Blvd. and at Portland Community College – Cascades Campus Cop Station. At all times the police urged the protesters to move on to the sidewalk or they would be arrested whilst two bike cops led the plethora of police cars.

At one point I was threatened with arrest for taking a picture in the street and was told to move immediately away from the scene. It seems that press freedom is not on the cards for the police here, and this is an important issue if people are to know what is really going on in their local town or community. (See Vol. XXX, Issue 2 of The Portland Alliance for an article relating to Fortune 500 corporations owning all American Wire services).

Oakland is now in the eyes of America for the wrong reasons at a time when budget cuts in California will see many loose their jobs on the Oakland police force. The verdict today is another loss for communities against the police and the brutal tactics they choose to employ in the line of duty.

The protesters split up fairly rapidly at the end and at least 3 arrests were made.

Friday, July 9th

Early this morning in Baltimore, we defaced three police vehicles with slashed tires, spray paint, and feces on door handles & through an open window to say ‘Fuck you’

and to express solidarity with the mobs rioting and looting in Oakland after the Oscar Grant verdict, and the 80+ people arrested there.

The New Image of Bash Back!

*TRIGGER WARNING*

This week on June 22nd, a 29-year-old trans woman was found shot in the chest about 3 a.m. Monday in the 7500 block of South Halsted Street near a South Side church. A passing motorist found her lying dead on the sidewalk. She remained unidentified Monday morning, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. At the Chicago Dyke March today, an organizer identified her only as Sandy. Sandy’s killer remains unknown.

We cannot allow trans women to continue to be systematically murdered in cold blood. Bash the fuck back.

whereas the negation of summertime dug up the bones of derrida’s harpsichord, the ignorant party’s occupation of the porch of montana street’s porch spits in the face of bike collectives on every corner; whereas the dull thump of fuckers in the streets soundc like the death rattle of spring’s dry heart, the ignorant party’s war whoops ring through every west asstown neighborhood like the sound of katz in heat; whereas the abolition of spelling bringz to an end the pluralizing responsibilitiez of the letter ‘s’, the possibility of future spellingz 2 cum tantalizez and teezez all the hottiez bouncing; whereas sleep is counter-revolutionary, justice is for chumps [sic], the lightning bug of proletarian violence always cums with a 9 between itz mandibles—as such one never has to walk, and the party don’t start til someone getz hurt [ie andrew walks in]; whereas the party being in full swing and the rompus being doing on our glittered sweaty diva bitch faggot bodiez, we claim this portch as the sovereign terrortory of the ignorant party as its speech bodies are muffled by dicks.

we will not desist from species-blniging like fucking t. riddle in the slytherin common room in a pile of feces. we fuck the sky in the liminal space between blowjobz and deep-throating; from our lips to god’s earz.

hate, hate; hate, hate, hate: i don’t care what bitches say.

the list of demandz, in every particular order:
3 kegz: creamsoda, rootbeer, guiness; 1 oz (at least) of weed; local organic free trade coconut ice cream; liberation of all animals; hella pizza; all that normal jazz (social amnesty, etc); all black and gold everything; gay soccer; black kill city, junkie-cut 28-waist jeans (x12); moet moat; good porn; deep fryer; grass-fed steaks (not vegan); 3x silver booty shorts; all lam’e everything; niki minaj; equestrian boots (x12); mad bluntz; newports and tins of bali shag x6; mollie and e; grey goose; blow jobz (giving/receiving); scented markers; ANDY!!!!!; abolition of recycling; more garbagio; sum floppy titz; blood oranges; the head of john the baptist on a platter; johnny walker black lube; more la croix plus gin; airstream treehouses (x12—a village); the abolition of consensus; up the kittens; HATE; trampolines; brass monkeys; the dark lord; ingredients for bloody mary’s; pink himalayan sea salt (absolutely NO sand); vegan ball pit; top shelf open bar; absolutely fabulous playing behind porn; dead koala (unfrozen); one half of a panda (vegan); bloodbaths; the total annihilation of youtubian society;

lick my clit for fucking once.
xxxo,
the ignorant party

Pridefest was recently held in Pittsburgh. Run by corporate and state sponsorship and pandering to the police, the festival is put together by the patriarchal, sexist, trans/queer-exclusionist, and genderist, mainstream, predominantly cisgendered male gay community.

Queers in Pittsburgh wanted to show another side of the queer community here. Thus we made a plan to create a pink and black bloc within the pride parade, refusing to register or contribute to the corporate nature of the festival.

On the day of the parade, some folks noticed some cross-suckers protesting the festival with anti-queer messages. A make-out session ensued despite claims from the Christians that one of the genderqueers in the group would “Never be a ‘real man’”. As the Christian protesters failed to stop the queers, the pride parade began and the pink and black contingent rushed to the front, directly behind the Macy’s float where Macy’s workers were handing out sweatshop rainbow bandanna’s with the Macy’s logo on them. Queers and allies marched in pink and black holding a reinforced banner reading “Stonewall was (A) Riot” and signs reading “Not gay is in happy, queer as in fuck you”, “anarchy is for lovers”, “sodomize the state”, “queer liberation now”, “queers are revolting,”, and “hrc, not my advocate”.

The group began loudly chanting. Chants included:
“We’re here. We’re queer. We’re not going shopping!”
“2-4-6-8 anal sex is really great!”
“Queers Yes! Macy’s No! This corporate shit has got to go!”
“When homophobes attack, queers bash back!”
“I support a rainbow of genitalia” and others.

We remained at the front of the parade, drowning out corporate floats and members for the entirety of the parade. A Macy’s worker pushed one blocer and called them an asshole while another attempted to explain that pride was about “love and acceptance”. The bloc pushed past them chanting “We’re here. We’re queer. We’re anarchists, we’ll fuck you up!” At the end of the march, a member of the Delta Foundation and Pride organizer threatened the pink and black bloc with violence and expulsion from future events.

But, don’t worry. We’ll be back next year.