"Where Are The Activists?"

That's the question asked this week by well-known black gay blogger Rod McCullom, who was lamenting the absesnce of activist voices in the wake of the recent rash of gay-bashings and killings around the country. I was pondering that question over Thanksgiving dinner, and it occurred to me that while not always visible, the activists Rod seeks are there. It's true that visible leaders like Harvey Milk or Don't ask/Don't Tell protestor August Provost are few and far between, but still, there are plenty of "activists" out there. These people would be you, you, and you. Think about it: would history remember Harvey Milk, Dr. Martin Luther King, or Mohandas Gandhi, if not for the tens and hundreds of thousands who marched, spoke and agitated with them? Their words, their calls to protest, and all the social changes they achieved would have gone for naught if not for people like you.



Speaking of social changes, another question I hear fairly often, from gays and straights alike, is, "why is gay marriage such an important issue?" With all the rampant gay-bashing, and the military's official policy of discrimination against gays, and the 30-year, ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, gay marriage seems a minor concern, at best, to many people. Yet, gay marriage is a critical issue for the LGBT community, not least because there are profound issues of how gays and lesbians are seen as people, and whether the United States is following its long, rich history of Constitutional democracy. The Fourteenth Amendment to our Constitution begins with these words: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Yet, gays and lesbians do not now enjoy, nor have we ever enjoyed the "equal protection" of the laws. The anti-gay marriage laws on the books in 45 states, and the federal Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA) are a direct assault on the Fourteenth Amendment, and yet people believe the gay-marriage issue is "minor"?




The gay-marriage issue speaks directly to our long-held, long-enforced status as second class citizens, and all the other ills which assail us in the LGBT community--gay-bashing, DADT, HIV/AIDS--are inextricably linked to this. The only way these challenges to our lives will ever be overcome, is through public activism. That means YOU doing all the things which bring about social and political change: voting in every election, participating in public discourse on LGBT issues, and if necessary, taking to our streets to say by our numbers "Here are the gay activists--each and every one of us!" Just something to think about while you're recovering from Thanksgiving dinner.

TODAY: March Against Hate Crimes In Queens!

In response to the vicious gay-bashing attack against Jack Price, a 49-year-old out, proud gay man living in College Point, Queens, there will be a protest March and Rally this afternoon. The March will begin at 2 PM at College Point Blvd. and 20th Avenue in College Point, Queens. The March will then proceed up College Point Blvd., past the scene of the attack on 18th Avenue, and contnue to the Rally and Speak Out site at Poppenhusen Playground on 14th Avenue and College Point Blvd.

You can reach the March via the 7 train to Main Street, then take a Q65 bus to 20th Avenue. Please bring signs without wooden sticks, your friends, and your spirit of solidarity with Jack Price. A second suspect has been apprehended by the NYPD and Norfolk, Virginia police, at a relative's home in Norfolk, where the suspect ran immediately following the beating. Watch the shocking video of the attack below, then make your plans to join me and your neighbors at today's March. We will send a message to those who might think their hatred and bigotry will make us run in fear: we will not run and hide, like those who attacked Mr. Price. We will not live in fear. We are who we are, and we will never tolerate atrocities like this. Be there.

The National Equality March

In the time-honored tradition of public, nonviolent protest which has been the hallmark of progressive social change in America for decades, tomorrow's National Equality March is another step forward for LGBT rights. More than just a cry for legalizing gay marriage, the March seeks an end to persecution of the LGBT community. In many parts of the country, gays and lesbians are still second-class citizens. In addition to being unable to marry, gays and lesbians can still be fired in 29 states, for their sexual orientation alone. Homophobia is still the official policy of our military, and our meeting places and clubs are still being raided by the police.



We are regularly beaten and killed because of who and what we are, but in spite of this, the LGBT community is too often looked upon as "less than" our straight neighbors. For all of these reasons, and many more, the National Equality March will be a watershed moment in the struggle for LGBT rights. It will be a time for us to put a face on the injustices we've suffered under, and struggled against, for "lo, these many years". It will be a time to call upon Congress, and President Obama, and remind them that if some of us aren't equal, then none of us are equal.



This is not a time to leave the marching and speaking to others. This is a time to raise your voice against those who encourage hatred and violence against us. This is a time to slap shoe leather in our nation's capital and let the world know we are no longer going to live in subjugation. We may and must protest, both for ourselves and those who come after us. I'll see you in DC.