Identities

Asia Kate Dillon: ‘The Legacy of Stonewall Demands That We Center, Uplift, and Support the Most Marginalized’

STONEWALL 50
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Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast/Photos Getty

The actor says we should ‘center, uplift and support’ the most marginalized and disenfranchised, who have ‘blueprints for the solutions that will build our intersectional future.’

In this special series, LGBT celebrities and public figures talk to Tim Teeman about the Stonewall Riots and their legacy—see more here.

Asia Kate Dillon is an actor (Orange Is the New Black, Billions).

What is the significance of the Stonewall Riots for you?

As I reflect on the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, I am drawn into remembrance of those that came before: Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, all the trans women, femmes, and people of color who started the queer revolution long before I was born.

What would you like to see, LGBTQ+-wise, in the next 50 years?

The legacy of Stonewall, and the next iteration of queer rights, demands that we center, uplift, and support the most marginalized, the most disenfranchised among us, and those that experience the most backlash from progress, in order to effectively create systemic change. It is these people who can see the forest for the trees, and who have blueprints for the solutions that will build our intersectional future.