This weekend, I saw one of the top 5 movies of the year – Milk, starring Sean Penn. How I wish this movie had been released prior to the passage of California’s Prop 8. It seems incredible to me that 3 years after defeating Prop 6, we have moved so far back in terms of Gay rights. As a few brave states move toward legalizing Gay marriage (why is it called gay marriage – why isn’t it just marriage? Never mind, I know the answer to that), many states are moving to constitutionalize bigotry and hate. I have some questions to ask for whoever finds this blog:
1. if someone African-American reads this, can you say “miscegenation”? It wasn’t all that long ago that interracial marriages were illegal. Why aren’t more African-Americans fighting for Gay marriage?
2. Where is the next Harvey Milk? I’ve been out for 31 years (yikes! I am a tired old queen!); I can’t name a single national Gay Rights leader since him.
3. Where is Cleve Jones? And why isn’t he a national leader? He was directly involved with Harvey Milk, and founded the Names Project. Where is he?
4. Has the Gay community become so complacent because of what we’ve accomplished that we no longer have the courage to fight for what we haven’t?
I have to say that I shoulder some of the burden myself. The last time I went to a political meeting was in the last 70s, when I was 19. And frankly, that was to meet men. In the last 30 years, I can honestly say that the only overtly political action I’ve taken has been to protest proposed cuts in HASA in New York City last year. I vote, but that’s about it. So what, besides a movie that Hollywood has been talking about making for 20n years but was too chicken to actually make, has spurred me to write this? An Ecuadorian immigrant died this week, after being attacked while wlking in Brooklyn arm and arm with another man. While he was being beaten, the attackers were yelling anti-Gay and anti-Hispanic slurs. I hope the story is getting national press. The ironic thing is he was straight
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December 15, 2008 at 1:01 am |
Well, now that you have committed to trying to participate in the change, I posted a “must do list for equality” that gives some basic things you can do over the holidays. If you are in NY, a blogger named Quasi Suspect Class (linked on my blog) has written a letter that you can paste in an email to your state senators to encourage them to vote on the marriage bill that has already passed in the state assembly. Good luck!
December 15, 2008 at 11:50 am |
We’ve been in the streets — protesting here in town and in Sacramento, but all of it happened too late. Prop 8 caught California off guard and asleep. Onward to fight it in the courts…
July 9, 2009 at 2:26 pm |
Hey Sanford, I think the issue with gay marriage is that the word “marriage” makes a lot of religious folk pissy.
Why aren’t gay rights organizations fighting for LEGAL EQUALITY for civil unions?? Instead of the ‘creation’ of gay marriage. It’s impossible or at least a Scheisse ton harder to argue against LEGAL EQUALITY, than gay MARRIAGE, what with all the religious implications. Let the straight people keep their word marriage…