The Saints Go Marching In: National Equality March in DC, This Weekend

“Much gets said about "activism." Leading "activists" make easy targets...Oct. 11 isn't about them. It's about you. It's about us. And it's not even about "activism." It's about the right to live in a free country as equals. It's something we've all been raised to believe isn't just possible, but fair and just.”  - @Queerty 

This weekend is the National Equality March on Washington.                   I will be there. Will you?

When I was 13, I did a musical in Atlanta to benefit AIDS awareness. It was the first time that I knew I was working with people who were openly in same-sex relationships. Despite of the accepting nature of the play, the norm on a global level was that of homophobia and bigotry. I saw my colleagues being discriminated against, which I felt was completely ludicrous and ignorant. I didn't understand why because they were living their lives honestly, without adversely affecting anyone else's lives, that they should be hated.  I saw firsthand that there were big problems, and I felt compelled to do something. I didn't yet know what kind of woman I wanted to become, but I knew how daunting the task of honesty would be.

I wrote letters, spoke up, wore rainbows.  (I know.)  And, at this time of my emergence as a baby activist, the Olympics were coming to Atlanta, and the Committee announced the chosen game venues.  One of the sites was located in Cobb County, which you may remember from your history class as being the site of the Leo Frank trial, on which the musical PARADE was based. It was also the home of Grand Ol’ Newt Gingrich. 

A year before, Cobb County had issued a “resolution” to all it’s residents, proclaiming that "the lifestyle advocated by the gay community should not be endorsed by government policy makers because they are incompatible with the standards to which this community subscribes." 

Side note: I still think it's weird when people call "the gay community" a lifestyle, like every gay person lives the same life? There are parts of every community and every individual's "lifestyle" that I don't necessarily "endorse"...doesn't mean I need to issue a government resolution (or, um, law) addressing it.  I don't endorse anyone wearing skinny jeans - does that mean I hate Hipsters? Let's pass a law! 

The Olympics out of Cobb Coalition formed, and I joined, demanding that either the resolution be rescinded, or the games be removed from the county. My mom drove me to protests, and Olympic diver Greg Louganis said, “This is not an issue of politics but fairness."

That was 1994.  Oh history, you do love redundancy.

Soon after Louganis’s statement, I returned home one night and my Mom told me she was proud of me. The head of the Olympics out of Cobb Coalition had called our house, and thanked me. We had done it.  The Olympics Committee had made the final decision to remove the scheduled event from Cobb County to another venue in the Atlanta area, where gay and lesbian athletes and visitors would be welcomed as professionals, and treated with respect.

We fought with education and we won. We were right. 

This weekend, I will march in DC, with thousands of my fellow human beings, who believe that all tax-paying Americans should receive equal rights.  You know that saying, you get what you pay for?  I'm not sure why I'm paying for things that I'm not allowed to have. No taxation without representation.

Like Louganis said 15 years ago, this is an issue of fairness, not politics.  We have to continue to educate.

Here's a little bit, to get you going:

From the official website, here are the demands and why we're marching:

• The right to work our jobs and go to school free of harassment and discrimination.
• The right to safety in our daily lives, and protection from hate crimes.
• The right to equitable healthcare, and the right to donate blood.
• The right to equitable immigration policies.
• The right to marry.
• The right to serve in the military openly.

We have to point out the financial inequalities .  Why should the government make it more expensive to live with one gender than with the other gender?  

It’s absurd that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell still exists.  If someone is crazy/awesome enough to want to join the military in the mess we’re in right now, who cares if they’re into men or women? 

Why are we having to waste time, money and energy on convincing bigots that two adults who are in a loving relationship are allowed to get married and have the same rights as opposite-sex couples?  I mean, seriously?  What if everyone had to ask permission from the government to marry the person they love?  

Ultimately, we should all be participants in the movement towards what is actually right, fair and just.  

Let’s get it together, y’all.  Meet me in DC!  We are fighting with education and we will win, because we are right. 

Comments

[Lisa]

Loved this. If we call out BS every time, eventually we will prevail.