Profile
Photos
Comments
Monday, 29
March 2010 09:21
March 2010 09:21
There
was talk last fall that the National Equality March on the steps of the
Washington Monument was an unnecessary waste of LGBT energy. Not
anymore.
A receptive Congress and a supportive president
suggested things were about to change. But with ENDA stalled, DADT
postponed, and a barrage of hate campaigners belittling gay leaders as
‘fags,’ no one is saying that rally was not necessary now.
The Co
Chairs of that march, Kip Williams and Robin McGeehee, are taking the
battle for gay civil rights to the streets, with the formation of a
group called “Get Equal.” They have the complete support of this paper
in every way possible.
The talented organizers have spent months
since the March on Washington, carefully putting together an effective
national network of activists to battle for civil rights for the LGBT
community.
They have traveled across the country, held retreats
with young leaders and worked with March participants to create an
entity that will fill the vacuum of the absence of a ‘direct action’
organization in our movement.
Seeking a broad and
inclusive community, ‘Get Equal’ promises to bring together people of
every sex, gender, race, class, age, ability, look, religion, family
status, or citizenship; those who can contribute in small ways, and
those who are able to put themselves on the line.
In just two
days, over 2,500 young activists joined the group. Apparently, thousands
more are signing up at getequal.org. You can too. Sign up for this new
organization by going to the”Get Equal Facebook Page” or to their
website. They also have an online store to generate revenue.
The
protests are loud and many, reminiscent of forty years ago, when
Democratic activists turned against a Democratic president to help stop a
foreign war.
“We believe there are millions of Americans who are
tired of waiting and are ready to act. Our goal is to serve and grow
this constituency by helping them take strategic, coordinated, bold
action to demand equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in
the way,” wrote Williams on their website.
Without a doubt it is
one of the largest organizations to form outside the Beltway of
Washington, DC. In their press release this past Monday they stated:
“Emphasizing
direct action and people power, the mission of GetEQUAL is to empower
the LGBTQ community and its allies to take action to demand full legal
and social equality and to hold accountable those who stand in the way.
“All
over the country we are under attack,” said McGehee. “From the recent
actions of the Attorney General in Virginia to strip away protections
for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people on college and
university campuses to the young lesbian student in Mississippi who is
being denied the right to take her date to the prom. Nearly, every day
there is a new story, but the subject is always the same: we are being
bullied. We are no longer willing to sit back and wait—we want change
now.”
A blog post on Qweerty said it best last week: “What HRC is
engaged in is Inactive Activism. Lots of “pretty pleases” and “sir would
you permit mes.” They commended Dan Choi
for his chaining himself
to the White House fence to protest DADT.
Choi has spoken out
against gay apathy, and overt passivity in the face of denying the LGBT
community its civil rights. He declared, ““Why not now? Within the gay
community so many leaders want acceptance from polite society. I think
there’s been a betrayal of what is down inside of us in order to achieve
what looks popular, what look enviable. The movement seems to be
centered around how to become an elite… this shouldn’t be about which
group has better branding.”
Choi commented to Newsweek: “There is a
tremor right now in every gay and transgender youth that these groups
are not grasping. I would say to them—you do not represent us if all you
are looking for is a ladder in to elite society. .. what are you
willing to sacrifice? We are tired of being stereotyped as privileged,
bourgeois elites. Is someone willing to give up their career, their
relationships with powerful people, their Rolodex, or their parents’
love to stand up for who they are? I’m giving up my military rank, my
unit—which to me is a family—my veterans’ benefits, my health care, so
what are you willing to sacrifice?”
My analysis, based on history,
is that we are at the nadir of a new activist revolution, and the
battle is going to be taken where it belongs, to the streets, and away
from the fancy cocktail parties. A younger generation of leaders is
about to emerge and put an end to the delays and denials and unjust
postponement of civil rights we were always entitled to. And so it
should be, and so should you be with them. Put away the tuxedo, ditch
the cocktail, and grab a sign, joining the protests in front of the
White Houses in your community too.