On the morning of November 4, 2008 queer Californians lost their privacy, their swagger and their right to be glib. Like gorgeous Christmas toys under a tree, they sprang to life, nodding to one another and widening their circle of camaraderie. November 4th may have been the defeat of marriage equality but it was the baton striking time on the music stand, calling LGBTQAI to find one another, support one another, hug and assure one another.
Was it Obama + Milk + cultural markers + exposed religions’ involvement that woke up the queer social justice movement? Was it the natural collection of intention from Tennessee Williams to Stonewall to Rosie & Ellen & Rachel and Idol’s second place winner? Party planners, two identical figures on top a wedding cake, Newsom marrying Lyon & Martin; why was 2009 an important year for the Queer Civil Rights Movement? On November 4, 2008 PRIDE took on a whole new meaning as the partiers, non-political gays and activists embraced their consciences. It was coming into focus that the issue of marriage could be used as a vehicle for lifting queers out of isolation, loneliness, depression, suicide, homelessness, poverty, illness and outright murder.
Let there be no mistake that the 200,000 marchers on Pennsylvania Ave were not approaching the US Capitol to demand marriage licenses. They (we) were there to be out and proud and loud. They came to state, not ask, that equality is natural, normal and theirs to claim. With each rainbow-draped, hugging, hand-holding marcher, many knew that this was the enlightened response to Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena, Laurence King, Angie Zapata and every hiding, frightened, harassed, bullied youth; to every sick, dying, aging gay senior denied economic parity.
The DC Love-in, known as the National Equality March, was a gigantic exhale in the breathing of the New American Civil Rights Movement. It was born decades before and is well on its way to success. It has highs and lows, bruises and bandstands, funerals and parades. All of the movers and shakers and changemakers are whispering and occasionally shouting: Step, Step, Step. Push, Push, Push. It is on the move.
The New York Senate awoke the East Coast queers last week. Rick Warren just learned a lesson that gay newscasters will vet and press. Lt Dan Choi discovered that in addition to being fluent in several Middle Eastern languages he can ignite hearts with his cadence. Groups and individuals are becoming civilized in the New American Civil Rights Movement.
The defeat of Marriage Equality in a California ballot measure in 2008 was a marker in the movement forward. It was not a milestone. It was a loud call to action. It was a quiet confidence to some boy or girl in middle school that they have a life ahead. It was a collective knowing that queer will be normalized as these civil rights workers will not give up.
Somewhere in this breathing, pulsating, evolving movement replete with votes, propositions, measures, ballots, clipboards, pens and signatures, court filings, fundraisers, bumper stickers, PSA’s, tweets and justice ~ some significant players have lost the plot entirely. Money was spent, research was done, numbers were crunched and, maybe, marriage may not be winnable in the California 2010 ballot measure. And so these naysayers have embraced their wiser-than-wise calculation, as if marriage was the goal. (Is this an indication that they will be leaving the equality movement as soon as marriage is achieved?)
Somewhere they have forgotten that the point was inclusion, conversation, safety in congregating, integrated alliances, lifting loneliness, assuaging losses, changing hearts, informing minds, converting legislators, encouraging ministers, uniting our society in celebrating diversity.
When these research driven groups decline to sign, I take back my hopeful pen, lower my eyes and mourn the fact that they have taken their eye off the destination.
Was it Obama + Milk + cultural markers + exposed religions’ involvement that woke up the queer social justice movement? Was it the natural collection of intention from Tennessee Williams to Stonewall to Rosie & Ellen & Rachel and Idol’s second place winner? Party planners, two identical figures on top a wedding cake, Newsom marrying Lyon & Martin; why was 2009 an important year for the Queer Civil Rights Movement? On November 4, 2008 PRIDE took on a whole new meaning as the partiers, non-political gays and activists embraced their consciences. It was coming into focus that the issue of marriage could be used as a vehicle for lifting queers out of isolation, loneliness, depression, suicide, homelessness, poverty, illness and outright murder.
The DC Love-in, known as the National Equality March, was a gigantic exhale in the breathing of the New American Civil Rights Movement. It was born decades before and is well on its way to success. It has highs and lows, bruises and bandstands, funerals and parades. All of the movers and shakers and changemakers are whispering and occasionally shouting: Step, Step, Step. Push, Push, Push. It is on the move.
The New York Senate awoke the East Coast queers last week. Rick Warren just learned a lesson that gay newscasters will vet and press. Lt Dan Choi discovered that in addition to being fluent in several Middle Eastern languages he can ignite hearts with his cadence. Groups and individuals are becoming civilized in the New American Civil Rights Movement.
The defeat of Marriage Equality in a California ballot measure in 2008 was a marker in the movement forward. It was not a milestone. It was a loud call to action. It was a quiet confidence to some boy or girl in middle school that they have a life ahead. It was a collective knowing that queer will be normalized as these civil rights workers will not give up.
Somewhere in this breathing, pulsating, evolving movement replete with votes, propositions, measures, ballots, clipboards, pens and signatures, court filings, fundraisers, bumper stickers, PSA’s, tweets and justice ~ some significant players have lost the plot entirely. Money was spent, research was done, numbers were crunched and, maybe, marriage may not be winnable in the California 2010 ballot measure. And so these naysayers have embraced their wiser-than-wise calculation, as if marriage was the goal. (Is this an indication that they will be leaving the equality movement as soon as marriage is achieved?)
Somewhere they have forgotten that the point was inclusion, conversation, safety in congregating, integrated alliances, lifting loneliness, assuaging losses, changing hearts, informing minds, converting legislators, encouraging ministers, uniting our society in celebrating diversity.
When these research driven groups decline to sign, I take back my hopeful pen, lower my eyes and mourn the fact that they have taken their eye off the destination.
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