Not many know that the radical fight for sexual freedom is deeply rooted in a socialist tradition. Some of the earliest pioneers for gay rights were proclaimed socialists and believed that the fight for queer liberation was a crucial part to building a society free from the policing of sexual freedoms.

Our agenda is different from the modern, “socially progressive” wing of the capitalist class that promotes formal equality within the bounds of a highly unequal society. Queer liberation for socialists is about questioning the fundamental nature of capitalism that is designed to pit us against each other.

In the 1970’s, a newspaper called The Body Politic emerged to become the leading international outlet for gay people to discover and explore the meaning of queer liberation. In an article called Strategy for Gay Liberation, the author highlights that the “aim for gay liberation is to root out the source of our oppressions”.

That is why queer liberation, and the liberation for any oppressed peoples, is at the heart of socialism.

An injury to one, is an injury to all!