8 years Ago Today

Tucson, Arizona- September 11th 2001: Between 6 and 7AM

Nokia original sized cell phone ringing on my night stand. Don, "Eric, we're under attack. The Twin Towers have been hit! Call your sisters! They live in the city, right?" I couldn't get through. Not for several hours but Mom said they were fine.

After watching TV I wasn't sure if classes were canceled for the day but I walked to campus regardless. A ghost town. Whispers, muffled noise and even an more desolate, dried and thirsty Tucson. A University devoid of youth.

As far west as Tucson, AZ one of the first things I remember seeing was a fellow classmate, outside the English Lit. building, alone and draped in an American flag.

Fact or Fiction: Roxy Reopening

Let me see you put your hands up!

Well the rumors have been circulating for well over a year now. Does anyone have the cold, hard skinny on this? Is the Roxy going to reopen this winter?

I can only hope so! In my opinion NYC gay nightlife took a harder hit than expected when The Roxy closed. Things certainly haven't been the same. Smaller venues, less dancing. Blech! It's a sad era in NYC when the gay men here have no arena sized dance floor to call our own nor a means to represent our enormous presence here in this city.

Whether you went there or not, often or hardly at all, The Roxy was a place where on any given Saturday night you could lose yourself in a sea of men and a throbbing beat that kept you dancing til dawn.

Stepping on to that dance floor made you feel like - - - like you lived in New York City.

1 in 8,000,000

1 in 10 - 1 in 8,000,000

The New York Times is doing a new Photo/Audio project entitled "One in 8 Million" where they follow the life stories of individuals living in and around New York City. Recently, One in 8 Million did a feature on Ra Ruiz, a 22 year old queer youth who identifies as one of the Christopher St. Pier kids. Her story is both brutal and inspiring.

View the project and listen in: It will give food for thought about the Pier Kids and the issues facing them and their surrounding residential West Village community.

Also, click here for a post I wrote last year entitled, "The Importance of the West Village and those God-Damned Christopher St. Kids" on the same subject.

Unbuckling Straps: An undoing of the NYC Leather Community

Past or present?

A week ago the decades-old organization of Gay Male S/M Activists (GMSMA) of New York put the kibosh on their twice a month meetings and community. Over the years numbers of attendees dwindled from hundreds to just a handful and as the letter below states, "there are simply not enough men who are willing and able to step forward to lead the organization."

The letter below was dropped in my inbox a few days ago.

I recently attended the final Wednesday night meeting of Gay Male S/M Activists (GMSMA). That’s right, I said “final.” Finished. Done. It’s over. The organization’s annual meeting on Wednesday, June 17, 2009, was billed as a “celebration of GMSMA." What’s happening is that after decades of being a vibrant, thriving organization of gay men interested in learning about safe, sane and consensual s/m, GMSMA is now “transitioning” into a non-profit foundation. There will be no more Wednesday night programs.

During its heyday, GMSMA had hundreds of members from not only New York City but from across the country and even from overseas. Regular meetings were held twice a month, and it was not uncommon for the third floor meeting room of the gay community center on West 13th Street to be jam packed with dozens or even 100 or more men eager to learn and to socialize. One night the topic might be how to tie up your boyfriend in really good rope bondage, another time you could learn all about flogging and whipping, or how to put together a really kick-ass cop or firefighter uniform....

GMSMA was also an activist organization. Its leaders were instrumental in securing a place at the table for the leather community in groundbreaking gay civil rights marches in our nation’s capital. It was also the first s/m organization to include “S/M” in its title. That may not sound like much of a big deal today, but when GMSMA was founded back in 1981 those who engaged in s/m activities were often looked upon as freaks or deviants — even by those in the larger gay community. Believe it or not, GMSMA had to fight to be allowed to meet at the gay community center. In later years it became one of the center’s biggest financial donor organizations.

There were about 45 men in attendance at the last meeting in June, including a leather top who brought a very sexy and shirtless tattooed slave on a leash, who greeted the men he was introduced to by getting down on his hands and knees and licking their boots. Most who showed up were old-timers — one came in on the train from northeastern Connecticut. A few who came were newer members. At least half — including me — were former board members of the organization who had put in years or in some cases even decades of service to the community. But when the official business of the meeting got under way and the remaining officers announced the sad plans to effectively shut down the organization, only one man in attendance raised an objection.

It was painful for many others as well, but the unfortunate fact, what everybody knew — and what ultimately led to the end for GMSMA — is that there are simply not enough men who are willing and able to step forward to lead the organization anymore. The current board was down to just three members (a fourth signed on to help in the coming months with the transition). They were over-worked and under-appreciated. The harsh reality is that the organization simply could not continue to exist in its current form without more manpower.

It's unfortunate when an organization such as this, where gay men can come together and learn "safe, sane and consensual" ways to broaden their sexual horizons comes to a close.

I'm not a leather guy and I suppose that's just the problem. Very few men hovering around my age range and younger seem to be interested or know or know-to-care or care-to-know anything about the leather community or the meaning and history behind it. Sure some of us have our Sam Brownes and harnesses for events like The Black Party and Folsom Street East, when leather is acceptable and down-right dress code but by no means is there a trend going toward the leather lifestyle. Older friends tell stories of what leather truly means. That it is much more than fashion, accessories, more than "Masc and solid," more than butch and mean. Leather is a means to discovering the deeper connections two men can have between one another. A bonding experience. An exposure and measure of trust and vulnerability. Still, maybe for those of us whose closet doors were left ajar rather than bolted shut there isn't that search for sexual comprehension or need for fetish-based sexual fulfillment. Sex is here. It's now. It's out, it's open. It may not be talked about as much as it's happening but it is happening. The analogy of leather, no longer, necessarily applies? Maybe if play spaces and dungeons were more widely available, established or more culturally/socially accepted leather would be more current or stand a greater chance? Yet even though I'm one of those casual street event, Folsom-based leather guys it strikes me as a loss, a changing of landscapes, a shifting of wavelength when communities such as these meet an end.

Is it all be too far gone? The men of true leather are either dead or significantly older and the few still proudly fastening chaps and strapping harnesses, outside of commercial scenes, are seeing their beloved, sought out organizations closing. I suppose it's all fitting. What place does leather have these days? Here in NYC. New.York.City. We have only The Eagle, which is rather leather-light and The Lure and Spike are long gone, gone, gone. If International Mr. Leather and Mid Atlantic Leather are major events, then where are the pockets of that in other urban/rural areas? Have we become lazy or casually unconcerned?

Will we see a resurgence in leather and this community? Will men step up and lead or will this be yet another relic of our past?

Still, 40 Years Later

"Gay Americans aren’t just another political special interest group. They are Americans who are actively discriminated against by federal laws. If the president is to properly honor the memory of Stonewall, he should get up to speed on what happened there 40 years ago, when courageous kids who had nothing, not even a public acknowledgment of their existence, stood up to make history happen in the least likely of places."

The quote above comes from a terrific Op-Ed entitled, "40 Years Later, Still Second Class Americans" by Frank Rich from the New York Times, June 27th 2009.

The next day, June 28th 2009 - the exact date of the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a group of squealing pig cops "raided" a Fort Worth, TX gay bar and beat the shit out of a man drinking a bottle of water. The victim is left with severe brain injuries. A full scale investigation has been launched into the case.

Fuck that. Fuck calling your senators. Fuck sending emails. Fuck signing petitions. Fuck the "Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Homophobia has got to go" chanting and let's start fighting BACK again.

I know I'm not in Fort Worth so yes it's *easy* for me to say this- but I think the Fort Worth LGBT Community should march to the front door of the police precinct responsible for this "raid" and throw some eggs against their front door. Let them know, somehow, some way, just like the kids at Stonewall, that we're not going to take this shit anymore. We should show them we're not the limp-wristed faggot pushovers they think we are and we refuse to let our heads be bashed in any longer.

Stonewall didn't become history through chanting, through sign making or "full scale investigations." It made history because cops got punched back, bottles were smashed and trash cans lit on fire.

Cars were burned out during the White Night Riots. The glass of SF City Hall, smashed.

We deserve better. Now.

Countdown to Pride: Dyke March 2009

Not a parade but a protest march!

Tomorrow at 5PM is the 17th annual NYC Dyke March. It'll be my 4th year in row to attend the Dyke March. I love supporting and showing love for our lesbian/queer sisters and I suggest you do the same. Besides, it's a helluva lot of fun!

Meet up is Saturday June 27th 5PM sharp at Bryant Park.

Click HERE for everything you need to know.

It's the time to hit the streets! Make some noise. Be visible. Be heard. Demonstrate, agitate, liberate! Bring signs, banners, drums, giant puppets, flags, hula hoops, or just be there! And if you really want to make things happen - be a marshal (check out ACT-Up’s marshal training for what marshals do during a march).

The Dyke March is a protest march, not a parade -- we don't ask for a permit, because we have the right to protest. As lesbians, we recognize that we must organize amongst ourselves to fight for our rights, our safety, and for visibility. Thousands of dykes take over the streets every year in celebration of lesbians and to protest against ongoing discrimination, harassment, and anti-lesbian violence in schools, on the job, in our families, and on the streets.

My Amazing friend Rich Weaver pointed me in the direction of some old Queer Nation fem-based Artivism. I'm posting them below to get your feminist anger to a raging boil!

On to the Next...

I can't fucking believe it!

Twenty-Eight
XXVIII
28
Today!

Oh man!

View from your Pride: Shanghai, China

Over the weekend Shanghai, China held it's first ever Pride Event:

New York Times reports:
SHANGHAI — It was shortly after the “hot body” contest and just before a painted procession of Chinese opera singers took the stage that the police threatened to shut down China’s first gay pride festival. The authorities had already forced the cancellation of a play, a film screening and a social mixer, so when an irritated plainclothes officer arrived at the Saturday afternoon gala and flashed his badge, organizers feared the worst.

After some fraught negotiations, Hannah Miller, an American teacher who helped put together the weeklong festival, agreed to limit the crowds, keep the noise down and, most important, “not let anything happen that might embarrass the government,” she explained after returning from the impromptu sidewalk meeting. “That was a close call,” she said.

Crisis averted, the party continued.

And so it went for Shanghai Pride week, a delicately orchestrated series of private events that revealed how far China’s gay community had come, and how much further it had to go. In the 12 years since homosexuality was decriminalized in China, there has been an unmistakable blossoming of gay life, even if largely underground. Most big cities have gay bars, and social networking sites ease the isolation of those living in China’s rural hinterland. Antigay violence is virtually unheard of.

But official tolerance has its limits. Gay publications and plays are banned, gay Web sites are occasionally blocked and those who try to advocate for greater legal protections for lesbians and gay men sometimes face harassment from the police. For years, movie buffs in Beijing have tried, and failed, to get permission for a gay film festival.

This month, public security officials forced Wan Yanhai, a prominent advocate on gay issues, including AIDS, to leave Beijing for a week because they feared he might cause trouble during the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

“Sometimes I feel like we are playing a complicated game with the government,” Mr. Wan said. “No one knows where the line is, but we just keep pushing.”

We've certainly got our battles here in The States but we're still further along than some many people and so many places. This should not be taken for granted.

"...With Liberty and Justice for ALL" (unless you're gay, of course)

This has been stewing within me for the last couple of days...

Alright, O'Reilly at the 0.15 mark you state that "if you oppose gay marriage some far left people will try to hurt you." Hurt you, Bill? Did I hear that correctly? Because although the gays may go tit-for-tat with you it is only to defend our names and families from people like you who incite bigotry and hate against our community. How many bashings need to happen? How many stories do you need to hear before you realize that the platform you take and the words you speak fuel anti-gay zealots to feel absolutely vindicated in the actions and prejudices they take against the gay community? When was the last time you heard of a group of gay people beating or killing a straight person for the mere fact that they were heterosexual? The thing is, Bill, I think you know exactly what you doing and you get a kick out of keeping gays as second class citizens and targets for abuse.

The pledge of allegiance, the quotes which you so desperately cling to, state "with liberty and justice for ALL," and then at the 3:45 mark you so proudly claim that the bogus accusations you have against the gay community are "not the American way" and "un-American." You love considering us "Un-American" and unpatriotic because of our "non traditional marriage" but my question to you is, who are the real patriots of this country - those of us trying to uphold the idea of "liberty and justice for all" or those of you who are trying to deny it?

I would have a lot more respect for you, Bill O'Reilly, if you just put all the bullshit aside and stated simply that you hate gay people and want to keep them as a segregated community apart from the rest of the world. You have enough balls to incite the murder of a Pro-abortion Doctor - where are your old wrinkly, loathsome balls on this one?

Let freedom ring.

Washington Square Park Face Lift

The fountain was successfully moved and now you can see the water from any point North, East, South, West. The new benches are nice and the ground has been leveled. Good job, NYC.

Lest We Forget...

...This man is an overweight ex-Oxycontin addict.

Really, that's the best you got?

Some more on this here.

Obama: Consciousness

Hope made real

Who would have ever thought that a liberal lefty cynic like me would ever stand in solidarity and applause of our nation's leader?  I certainly didn't think so but here I am today, elated after President Obama's State of the Nation Address, rooting for the country and truly feeling that over-used cliched word: hope.  Hope is out there.  Change exists!  This is exactly what lead Obama to win the presidency and exactly that which will lead our nation out of crisis.

There is no plan for hope and change, despite the naysayers and critics request for one, and I feel Obama made that very clear last night.  The only plan for hope and change is that we as Americans begin taking responsibility for ourselves.  

Nothing made me more proud of our President last night when he declared that dropping out of High School is "no longer an option" for American people.  My applause became louder when he declared that this issue is neither democratic nor republican but an American issue! Education is the root of life opportunity and progressive change and our country should not carry a nonchalant attitude regarding it.  We must become better parents, better educators, better eaters, better citizens and we should carry a consideration for our common man.  The responsibility to shape this nation is ours and Obama spread that consciousness last night.  He can only take us so far.  After that the repair of this nation is only up to us.  I applaud President Obama and congratulate him for talking to his citizens like actual people and not running us through bullet points, numbers and dry statistics.  Morale and personal motivation are the key ingredients for any sense of healthy esteem and those are the same ingredients which will be applied in rebuilding this nation.  I salute President Obama for spreading this message and I will work with him and my fellow citizens to ensure this nation reaches the high-set goals so absolutely attainable. 

• "But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."
  
• "Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure. What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more."
• "I've appointed a proven and aggressive inspector general to ferret out any and all cases of waste and fraud.And we have created a new Web site called recovery.gov so that every American can find out how and where their money is being spent."
• "But credit has stopped flowing the way it should. Too many bad loans from the housing crisis have made their way onto the books of too many banks. And with so much debt and so little confidence, these banks are now fearful of lending out any more money to households, to businesses, or even to each other."
• "Well, I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders, and I know you don't, either. It is time for America to lead again."
• "So let there be no doubt: Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."
• "It is...It is our responsibility as lawmakers and as educators to make this system work, but it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it.  So tonight I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be a community college or a four-year school, vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself; it's quitting on your country. And this country needs and values the talents of every American."

Every So Often

The day is here:

The anxiety crashed a long time ago. The white foam rumbled itself out over the last few remaining months and the pools have drained back into the water.

He's made it. He put his hand on the book, the other up in the air and officially became our 44th President.

I suppose it is among the greatest of stories: The no-name underdog battling his way through the spiked tunnels and pitfalls of politics, dodging spears, swinging on hope, and defeating his two opponents at a pivotal time in our world's history. The stakes have never been higher and the people have turned to the rookie to lead them. We have given him a key to our city and he, with our investment, made that key glow to its brightest potential.

He is the Native American. The Slave. The man in the hose's aim. He is the man on the Moon, the picture in the text book. He is the man that made the Earth stand still. He is the President who got out of his motorcade to stop and wave to the people. He is history. He is: The American dream.

Throughout his campaign Barack Obama used words like Change, Hope and Progress to spark people up from an election and out into a movement. Art became inspired. Musicians began collaborating. Young people threw themselves onto computer screens and chiseled their way through technology. We had something to believe in again. After eight dark, directionless years we now had a light to hold on to.

"We want change. We want change."
"Yes we can! Yes we can!"

But now the day is here. Right here. Right now.

He has taken us this far. But now the responsibility is ours. We were the ones that chanted "yes we can." We were the ones that urged support. We were the ones that pledged "we want change." Now it's time to prove it.

So, in the words of our new President:

"Every so often there are times when America must rise to meet a moment.
And our moment is now.
This is our moment.
This is our time-
to unite in common purpose.
To make this century the next American century.
Let's go change the world!"

Let's go.

Stop the Arrests: Town Hall Meeting

Last night Wayne and I attend the Stop the Arrests! town hall meeting at The Center. The meeting was called to educate and organize around the recent NYPD entrapment cases and frivolous arrests targeting the queer community in NYC bookstores and other adult venues.

To read up on the issues please visit my previous post where I feature Gay City News reporter Duncan Osborne's article on the matter. This is definitely a topic worth discussing. Our community is being unfairly targeted and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for it other than the police viewing gays as easy people to arrest.

Below is Duncan Osborne's summation of the evening:

Some 300 people came to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center for a town hall meeting on police arrests of gay men on prostitution charges in New York City porn shops.

Openly gay state Senator Thomas K. Duane, who represents Chelsea, told the crowd “I think it’s very disturbing that there has been this pattern of arrests...No matter how you look at this issue, the enforcement has been completely, utterly inappropriate and out of control.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who represents Chelsea, and Councilmember Rosie Mendez, who represents the Lower East Side and part of Gramercy, sent staffers. Quinn’s staffer said the speaker was “very concerned” about the arrests and had communicated with the police department while the staffer representing Mendez read a letter in which the councilmember called for a “full investigation into the actions of the police department.”

Police have arrested at least 47 gay or bisexual men in seven porn shops dating back to 2004 with roughly half of those arrests coming in 2008. Citing those arrests, the police department sued six of the seven, with four suits happening in 2008, using the city’s nuisance abatement in an effort to close the shops. Two were shuttered while the others remain open under settlements with the city that restricts their operations.

Andrea J. Ritchie, director of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center, said the arrests and lawsuits are used to punish “deviant” sexuality. “The decision in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 did not end the policing of gay sex,” she said referring to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down state sodomy laws. “The policing of sexuality casts a much wider net. It captures heterosexuals as well as queers.”

Other panelists at the town hall included Sienna Baskin, a legal fellow at the Sex Workers Project, Joey Nelson from the Queer Justice League, Jennifer Ramirez, an organizer at the New York City Gay and esbian Anti-Violence Project, and Robert Pinter, a gay man who was arrested for prostitution in Blue Door Video on First Avenue in the East Village in October. The Coalition to Stop the Arrests, a group founded by Pinter, will meet at the Center on January 29 at 6:00 pm to plan next steps and AVP will host a meeting at its offices on Janury 28. Go to avp.org for details.

Action Alert: Saturday Dec. 20th - Light Up the Night

Saturday Dec 20th: NYC Lights Up!

Sat December 20
6-8PM Columbus Circle with a March to Times Square

JoinTheImpact, the group who brought you the Nov. 15th Prop 8 National protests comes the next phase in actions and rallies. This Saturday Dec. 20th will be a rally in Columbus Circle followed by a march down to Times Square.

Go here for the Official Facebook page. Link it, blog it and email it out.

On December 20th, we ask that you join us again for a nation-wide demonstration. The rally at City Hall on November 15, 2008 was just the beginning. In cities across the nation, people will once again be taking to the streets to stand up for Equality. We are not done fighting!!!
6:00pm
MARCH FROM COLUMBUS CIRCLE TO TIMES SQUARE
7:00-8:00pm
RALLY IN TIMES SQUARE

Be sure to go to the facebook page because they have suggestions as to what to bring and information on how to become involved and a sign up to volunteer to marshall the event. If you never marshalled an event before and want to I strongly recommend doing so. It's a tremendous amount of fun and puts you right smack in the middle of the action.

I unfortunately will not be able to attend (ugggggh!!) because I'll be out of town for work but I'll be there in spirit - candles, glowsticks, flashlights and all.

Rage!

Props for Prop 8

Over the weekend I was thinking about some of the events which have transpired over the last couple of months. The elections, Obama, Prop 8, the loss of Prop 8 and the aftermath that followed... and it struck upon me that having lost the right to marry may have actually been, dare I say, a good thing?

Think about it: What happened when California was granted the right for same-sex couples to marry? We celebrated for a day or a few days, but then the celebration died and we shrugged on with our every day. The same thing happened with Connecticut, even in the heart of Prop 8 Protests - we said "yay!" for the day and shrugged on.

Much of the dust has settled from the after prop 8 blame game yet I still feel that we as a community haven't celebrated the fact that we only lost to "Yes on 8" by a 4% margin. The anger that followed is totally appropriate but it should be noted that, in the loss of this small 4%, we've gained a tremendous movement! We've gained protests and anger and rallies and marches and community meetings with people working together, collaborating and fighting! A whole army of gays, both young and old, male and female, restored, alerted, recharged and woken up - all chomping at the bit to become involved.

In the end, this 4% loss may have been our biggest win yet.

Giggle Headline of the Weekend: McCain to Palin "Pffffbt!"

via CNN.com

Tonight: 2 Meetings 1 Center

The Center is holding two meetings tonight regarding equal rights/marriage equality.

Tonight- Wednesday December 3rd:

Marriage Equality NY: 6PM- 8PM Room 410
Join the Impact Meeting: 7:30PM-9PM Room 212.

Unfortunately I won't be able to attend either as I've been long locked into helping host and MC the end of season Dodgeball party at Splash. But hey, at least I can't criticize the lack of attendance. ;)

Reactions from the Town Hall Meeting

I'll try and be as proactive and optimistic as possible but that might prove to be difficult in responding to last night's Marriage Equality GLBT Center Town Hall Meeting.

I was only able to be there for about 20minutes before having to leave for a previous commitment so I am admitting that I am not the best source to review this meeting. I did, however, do my homework and contact people who attended to get a good scope on what went down.

When I got there I was taken aback by the amount of people who showed up. There were damn near 300 people, if not more, crammed into a hot and stuffy room of the LGBT center. Having been to meetings like this in the past, with such large populations, I knew from the start that there would be a lot of talking and little doing. It's just impossible to organize with that amount of people with no clear cut plan for execution.

I arrived just before Tom Duane delivered a speech on how we have to commit ourselves to a lot of organizational -based ground work and how we can learn from the Prop 8 campaign in California. Afterward, the moderator opened the floor to questions and answers. I grumbled when this happened, not because I felt the Q&A was coming too soon but because The Center always insists on having people get up at a microphone and ask their questions. I hate this! The center seems convinced that people are incapable of standing up where they are and asking their question aloud. Instead, the whole meeting has to wait for people to get to the mic to ask their questions and it's just annoying. My whole 20minute experience there was a true test of patience and I found myself sighing again and again through the Center's relentless bureaucratic system of things. This always happens and I always can't stand it. Then again, I'm not the most patient of people. Just stand and speak up, people! Do we really need to waste all the time getting to "the mic?"

There did seem to be some structure. There was talk of placing your email address on to 1 of 3 lists: Those who want to be part of actions/demonstrations, people who want to do outreach/ground work and those who want to tackle politicians and political-based work. (I think.)

In the end the reactions I received from the meetings ranged from being a complete, frustrating waste of time to empowering to be there but wishing things were more organized. Here is a review from someone who attend longer than I did:

My friend, Chauncey Dandridge of The Cerebral Jester had this to say:

...It seemed a little like it was a bunch of people who have obviously done a tremendous amount of work for the cause just looking for an audience to shout at. it almost became the kind of forum that occurs at a protest with megaphones and cheers instead of a well organized political discussion. Don't get me wrong...there were a lot of amazing and important facts discussed but unorganized order in which everything was discussed definitely was a turn off and seemed ill prepared. I definitely am more motivated than I was before I got there but I really hope that they work on the sophistication of the itinerary for the next one they have. Another thing that resonated is the negative reaction to the fact that the room was filled with mostly gay white males instead of minorities and almost made us feel insignificant and that was definitely rough to hear. I understood what they meant about it being important for all races and religions to be represented and using gay Latinos to talk to Latino politicians and gay blacks to talk to black parishes etc. but it was definitely a very divisive argument and borderline racist. I think the time spent thanking everyone for coming was overshadowed by the idea that we (gay white males) need to get our Latino and black and Asian gay brothers and sisters involved. It's just not the type of thing you tell a room filled with gay white males who have rushed out of work or whatever else to be at a meeting that they certainly didn't have to be at and went to for some guidance.

The answer and question session went on forever and when that started I left because some of the questions were too personal and probably could have been answered if that person did their own research on the internet instead of wasting everyone's time at the meeting.

It's always the same, no matter what the meeting. Whether it's ACT UP, or Marriage Equality or The Queer Justice League it always comes down to 1) needing more outreach toward minority communities (always despite the fact that those who speak most about it never bring in the minority numbers they so often shout about.) 2) More organization and the "What's Next" question and 3) some aimless Q&A platform where nothing gets done.

It seems as though those running the next upcoming meetings need to have a plan and structure and have the balls to stick with it. A simple outline, maybe a hand out so the audience can follow along:
A) This is where we're at.
B) This is what needs to get done.
C) This is how we plan to execute what needs to get done - open to suggestions.

Oye, but ya know, I still love it.

Come Gather 'Round People Wherever you Roam

November 23, 2008

An open letter to my LGBT brothers and sisters:

With the passage of Proposition 8 in California I expect that you all feel as passionately upset as I do. However, I believe that it is imperative that we channel our passion into an effective strategy to undo the defeat that we have suffered.

So what do we do? March on Washington? Ask President Obama to legalize gay marriage? Ask the Supreme Court of California to overturn Proposition 8?

These remedies sound good but maybe we should take a moment to pause and analyze our predicament and devise strategies and tactics with an understanding of what has worked historically.

Perhaps it is time to realize that it has been counter-productive to believe that Judges, Courts and Executives can wave a magic wand and make ordinary Americans love us. Let us take a moment and reflect upon some key moments in the history of Americans achieving social justice.

1. President Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and proclaimed that he had “delivered the south to the Republican Party for the next twenty years.” It was more like forty years, but who’s quibbling.
2. Roe vs. Wade in 1973. The US Supreme Court legalized abortion. At that time, the number of states that had legalized abortion stood at 11. The American electorate was not prepared for this ruling, so yet again, the enemies of justice were handed a club that they successfully wielded to achieve electoral victories.
3. January 1992. President Bill Clinton began his presidency by trying to make good on his MTV pledge to allow gays to serve openly in the US military. Senators Bob Dole and Sam Nunn pounced and crippled his presidency. Two years later, the Republicans were swept to power in the US Congress.

In contrast, consider the following.

1. In December 2003, Vermont Governor Howard Dean signed LGBT Civil Unions into law. It was controversial, but the groundwork had been laid. LGBT couples had spent the previous two years visiting Rotary Clubs, churches and city counsels all across the state. They also went door to door to educate the people of Vermont about the fundamental issue of fairness in regards to LGBT relationships. There was a backlash but it was ineffective because of the work that had been done on the ground.
2. Consider another US Supreme Court decision, Lawrence vs. Texas, June 2003, that abolished sodomy laws in America. Due to the hard work of LGBT organizations across the country, only 11 states had sodomy laws on the books. The American people were ready to accept this ruling because they were convinced that sodomy laws were unjust. And the backlash? It didn’t happen.
3. This morning I read in the New York Times that the president of Bob Jones University had apologized for their past ban on accepting black students and their later ban on inter-racial dating. Yes, this apology was belated, but I guess with a black president elect, well, better late than never. Will Bob Jones University accept openly gay students?

So what does history teach us? Big demonstrations are a great way to vent anger and to create visibility, but do they really change minds? I attended numerous, huge marches protesting the invasion of Iraq. Those marches didn’t work.

Marching helps. Marches make us feel better, but asking Courts, Governors and President to make our troubles go away with the stroke of a pen is like asking daddy to make the bogey man go away by giving us a reassuring pat on the head.

It’s legal but ineffective.

Now, don’t get me wrong and assume that I haven’t “been there” and “done that.” I attended my first civil rights demonstration in 1962 when I was six years old, carrying a sign that was bigger than me. I also bear a scar on my right knee from when I was hit with a teargas canister during an ad hoc riot in East Lansing Michigan while protesting President Nixon’s decision to mine the Haiphong Harbor in North Vietnam. Oh, and I really enjoyed bathing in the fountain in front of the US capitol building in Washington DC in 1974 when Nixon invaded Cambodia. That day we carried a thirty-foot long papier-mâché cockroach with the face of tricky-dick, up onto the steps of the Capitol. It was hot that day and, well, I needed a bath.

So I have lived it and still I am frustrated. I am frustrated when my LGBT brothers and sisters continue to employ proven failed tactics in an effort to achieve justice.

Should we march on Washington? Let’s go! Should we lobby the courts? Yes! Should we lobby Governors and President Obama? Yes! But not until we have done the work needed to achieve justice.

To achieve our goals, we need to work on the ground. We need to visit Rotary Clubs, Churches and city councils and knock on the front doors of those who don’t understand us.

Charley Beal
Art Director
MILK

This letter comes to me from my friend, artist and activist Charley Beal. I suppose the timing couldn't have been better. Charley wrapped as Art Director on Milk just as California faced, and lost, the Prop 8 campaign. He's angry, as are the rest of us, but also a veteran.

I'm posting this on my blog because it's important that we use the torches of our past to light our future. We need advice like this. We need wisdom and words and stories.

Despite my ready and willingness to be a red-faced angry and belligerent protester/activist, notes like these help me catch my breath, take a moment and think, quietly and conjure the ways in which my anger can be channeled into a format of constructive use.

My generation and the younger ones will be among those appointed to roll Bill O' Reilly's wheelchair into the retirement center, where he might even still be screaming, although nobody is listening. His time has come, the wheels have rolled and the brakes are now on. We'll be there to pat his head and feed him his pudding and somewhere in there we'll wonder how this man ever thought the world should work as he said it should. We will use him to remind us of a history where things were unjust and discriminating and we will use advice like Charley Beal's to remind ourselves of how we successfully brought light upon those darker days.

I will be at the gates shaking the foundations but, as a veteran tells me, I may also be on a couch, in a living room, in a quaint suburban house, or church pew, gently and patiently allowing an evolution of understanding to take place.

I am looking forward to tonight's meeting.