She’s awesome. A few bits from an entry by
“We are losing. And this loss is happening because many people feel we need to be quiet, move slowly, don’t push, sit in the back of the bus, take the abuse, don’t rock the boat, and be patient. I’ve seen people say time and again that if we’re quiet and stop shouting, then acceptance will come. People are voting DOMA in because we’re too pushy, they’re not ready. If we ‘force’ the issue the answer will be no, so we need to be good little children and behave, then maybe we’ll get a cracker. Patience above all is counseled.
Fuck patience. Waiting hat in hand, gains nothing.”
“But it’s a truth that we are only as free as the least free among us. When we said “Colored people may not use facilities that white people use”, that effected everyone, colored or not. Black or white, or brown, or purple. It damaged everyone living that way. And if you really think about it, you can see the numerous levels of damage, but I’ll spell out one for you. When you tell a child that someone is ‘less than’ because of their skin tone, whether that child is black or white…doesn’t it do harm? If they believe they’re better, more entitled, etc. because they’re white…doesn’t that harm the child? If they believe they’re less than, not entitled, whatever because they’re black, doesn’t that also do harm? And when they ask why, because these things are NOT obvious to children, hate is learned…the damage is even deeper. It leaves visible scars across society.”
“And if in the end, you can look at love (between two legally and mentally compentant people) and condemn that love simply because they’re the same gender…frankly I pity you.”
“They miss the love. And in missing that, they miss the true beauty and wonderment of the world. And it leaves an ugly scar in its wake.
That’s what I am fighting. And that’s what I am fighting for.”
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Very interesting.
I think one of the problems facing gay rights is that they’re spread out. Anyone, black or white, rich or poor, can be born gay. The only community tends to be far flung. (As in over a few towns in rural areas). If a gey child has bigoted parents, they lose that link to the community they were born into. No black parent has ever kicked out thier child for being born black.
Civil rights had it easier because they were segregated. They could form solid and cohesive communities. They could be the majority vote in thier district. And if someone was a racist, they probably weren’t going to live close enough for it to be an issue. If they tried to do something in a majority black town, they’d get arrested and charged by a justice system that isn’t on thier side.
And these people still exist. They hide it because unless they’re in a town that openly embraces white superiority, then they can’t speak out.
Most gays don’t have the luxury of a solid community that they’re born into. They have to search out like minded people. Even if they get together, their vote isn’t going to have much impact due to it being spread out over districts. Most of thier group will be strangers to the local community, so most people think “Why would I stick my neck out for a stranger?”, as opposed to everyone knowing someone of color, unless they live in a white washed town.
Thankfully, we’re already seeing real communities forming. Just around me, there’s North Hampton, which openly courts gay couples vacationing, that New Hampshire school district that laughed and told a busload of protesters from Kansas to go home when they protested lesbians as class couple, and several states legalizing some form of gay marriage.
I don’t see it as losing in the big picture. Some places have been lost to hatred, but there’s even more hope out there than there was ten years ago. “He was flirting with me” is no longer a valid defense for murder. If you walk down the street with your lover in most cities, it’s the person throwing rocks that gets arrested.
I agree that you need to continue fighting hard. But don’t discount the victories.
Comment by maskedfencer — June 21, 2005 @ 9:16 pm