What Harvey Milk’s Erasure—and the Disappearance of Support—Really Means
There were no corporate floats at Pride this year. No rainbow banks, no feel-good brands trying to sell us all sorts of pride items. At first, it felt like relief. But beneath the surface, there’s something more dangerous unfolding—a coordinated erasure.
Harvey Milk’s name was stripped from a U.S. naval ship. The 988 lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth is losing its “Press 3” option. Lesbian elders are losing access to federal support through organizations like SAGE. And state by state, Lesbian and Queer Women are watching rights turn to dust—again.
As a Lesbian feminists, we’ve seen this cycle before. When visibility is used to quiet us. When power dresses up as policy. When the most vulnerable in our communities are the first to be erased.
Here are five truths we know in our bones:
1️⃣ Neutral isn’t neutral—it’s a weapon.
They say it’s about “removing politics” from ship names and schoolbooks—but when they erase Harvey Milk, they’re not being neutral. They’re making space for silence. For shame. For closets we already fought our way out of. They’re trying to erase our legacies, our leaders, and our lives.
Let’s be clear: this is backlash—and it’s meant to scare us back into hiding.
As lesbian poet and activist Adrienne Rich warned:
“When someone with the authority of a teacher, say, describes the world and you are not in it… there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing.”
We’re not going back to invisibility. Not now. Not ever.
Let’s be clear: this is backlash—and it’s meant to scare us.
2️⃣ When one of us is targeted, all of us are next.
Trans youth are on the front lines right now—but lesbian visibility is being cut, too. From elder funding to school libraries, our names, our stories, our history are disappearing from public life.
As Jewelle Gomez once said: “We didn’t come out of the closet to go into the margins.”
3️⃣ We’ve lived through this before.
Some of us marched with ACT UP. Some of us held lovers’ hands during the AIDS crisis. We remember when we weren’t allowed to say the word “lesbian” on public TV.
This moment is different—but the feeling is familiar.
As Jewelle Gomez once said: “We didn’t come out of the closet to go into the margins.” Many of us remember when being a lesbian meant losing your job, your family, your safety. That memory isn’t weakness—it’s power. Let’s use it.
`4️⃣ If we wait for someone else to save us, we’ll be waiting forever.
The 988 crisis line cut its queer-specific support. SAGE centers are losing both federal funding and corporate sponsorship. DEI programs are under attack. And still—we rise. We form circles. We teach each other. We pass the torch.
Because that’s what lesbians do. We don’t just protest—we build alternatives.
5️⃣ Every time they try to erase us, we respond by becoming louder.
They thought stripping Harvey Milk’s name would silence us.
It didn’t. It reminded us why we fight.
At LesbianEarth, we believe in a Lesbian and Queer Women futures shaped by Lesbians, Feminists, Queer women,and the communities we lift with us. We don’t need permission to exist. We need connection, strategy, and fierce love.
🔥 What You Can Do Now
💜 Show up for EQNM and who are doing the real work with or without federal help.
💬 Speak Harvey Milk’s name. Speak your own.
Let’s tell our stories while we still have breath. Archive them. Share them. Pass them down.
🎨 Come to our December Art Show in Santa Fe
33 lesbian and queer women. 1 space. Pure joy, resistance, and expression.
🧠 Get loud about disappearing services
From 988 to school textbooks, tell your community what’s being erased—before it’s gone.
As feminist scholar Audre Lorde told us:
“Your silence will not protect you.”
We’re not just remembering.
We’re reclaiming.
We’re rising.
