These are dangerous times.
Every week we learn of new attacks on trans kids’ access to healthcare, restrictions on drag performances, and LGBTQ+ books banned from schools and libraries. Supreme court justices hint at reversals of decisions on marriage equality and the right to love. Rightwing extremists threaten the very foundation of our democracy with violence, misinformation and bigotry. And many of the cities and towns where we once found refuge are now too expensive for many LGBTQ+ people, especially our youth and elders.
My friend and mentor Harvey Milk always said that you’ve got to give the people hope, and unions give me hope right now. I’m part of Unite Here, the hospitality workers’ union that fights every day to defend working people, protect LGBTQ+ rights and stop the forces of hate who seek to divide us.
I was 18 when I first met Harvey almost 50 years ago on Castro Street. Like so many queer kids, I left my home town to find community in a city like San Francisco, where I could be safe. Housing in San Francisco was never cheap, but my roommates and I could afford to rent an apartment while working jobs in the service industry.
That’s not true any more. LGBTQ+ people struggle to stay in the big, progressive cities where we’ve found community, fought for freedom and built “gayborhoods” like the Castro in San Francisco, Capitol Hill in Seattle, and Lakeshore in Chicago. Many jobs just don’t pay enough to afford the ballooning costs of housing and healthcare.
Unions can help LGBTQ+ workers – and the workers know it. In April, workers at Chicago’s popular Berlin nightclub voted to unionize with Unite Here Local 1. The club is an anchor of the city’s LGBTQ+ scene, but bartenders, security staff and other workers say their paychecks aren’t enough to make ends meet and that they want safer working conditions.
Now these workers are negotiating for a union contract with better wages and affordable healthcare. That’s what we’ve won at many existing union businesses across the country, but to my knowledge, Berlin is the first LGBTQ+ club to unionize. It’s historic, and it will help those nightlife workers weather the rising cost of living in the community they love.
Unions are even more important for LGBTQ+ workers outside the big progressive cities and college towns. In states that have passed laws against us, a union contract may be our only line of defense against discrimination, harassment and abuse.
Earlier this year, our union negotiated deals to protect American LGBTQ+ workers at union cafeterias operated by Compass and Sodexo, massive global food and facilities management companies that employ thousands of Unite Here members as cooks, dishwashers and food servers throughout the US, including states like Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Florida.
Maga Republican legislators in these states especially threaten trans people’s rights and access to healthcare, but many Compass and Sodexo workers’ new union contracts require their employer to recognize and use their chosen names and pronouns and offer gender-neutral bathrooms. We’ve fought for workers to have access to gender-affirming care through affordable health insurance plans. These workers’ rights are under attack, but their union fights back. LGBTQ+ teachers, communications workers, retail clerks, truck drivers, service employees, nurses, factory workers and others can also count on their unions to fight back.
We must support unions. It’s not just our duty – it’s in our interest. When unions grow and get stronger, they can defend more of us.
Join workers’ picket lines. Respect the boycotts they call. Patronize businesses with a unionized workforce. Never cross a picket line where workers are on strike.
This Pride Month, as members of Unite Here and other unions prepare to march in Pride celebrations around the world, remember that every picket line is its own kind of pride parade. Unions protect LGBTQ+ people – from low wages that make our beloved cities and neighborhoods unaffordable, from discrimination in the workplace and from hateful attacks on our rights. The labor movement is where people of all races, ethnicities, faiths, genders and orientations come together to support workers, defend democracy and strengthen communities. Harvey Milk recognized that truth back in the 1970s and it is even more important today.
Cleve Jones has been an activist for LGBT rights for over 50 years and is a Community and Political Coordinator for Unite Here International Union. He is the author of When We Rise: My Life in the Movement.
