Around 10am this morning, hundreds of marchers ended a #BlackLivesMatter solidarity march in the Castro in protest of brutality, a lack of accountability, and minority targeting by police. Today's action had a focus on queer supporters and queer black lives, according to the event's Facebook page.
The march began at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center at 8:30am this morning, shutting down the intersection of Octavia Boulevard and Market Street with a die-in after placing a giant pink triangle in the intersection. (The pink triangle was a symbol that Nazis placed on concentration camp prisoners to identify them as LGBTs, but has since been adopted by queer movements as a symbol of pride.)
Traffic was stopped on Highway 101 for at least 15 minutes while the protest occupied the intersection. Marchers then continued up Market Street into the Castro neighborhood, stopping at the intersection of Market and Castro. They again placed the pink triangle on the ground and observed four minutes of silence.
Around 15 police officers watched the scene as protestors spoke and shouted in time, "Black lives matter," "Black queer lives matter," and "No justice, no peace. No racist police." Speakers talked about the struggles of LGBTQIA people of all races, saying that the violence against queers and queers of color is the same as violence perpetrated on people during segregation and Jim Crow.
The peaceful protestors disbanded around 10am after thanking everyone who had participated. The march was inspired in part by the BlackOUT Collective, which pushes community action during the holidays when people might otherwise be shopping or staying indoors.
