Monday, October 12, 2009
NOTES ON A MARCH I COULD ONLY ATTEND IN SPIRIT
While I was unable to attend the March on Washington on Sunday, October 11, I was able to watch these videos of the key speakers. The two that most stirred my emotions were these:
I especially liked Cleve Jones' digs at Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Meanwhile, George W. Bush signed the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (WRERA) just before he left office.
Since Prop H8 passed I have become more militant in my support for gay rights. I will no longer regard a disagreement with me over gay rights as such. I regard it as an active impediment to my rights. Likewise, no candidate who opposes 100% gay equality (which includes gay marriage) gets one red penny or one vote from me, no matter who's running against them. And merely not standing in the way of progress is not enough. I will be writing to my Congressional representative to let him know that he needs to actively push for gay equality now.
And as for religious denominations who oppose our equality: I oppose yours, too. Religion is a choice, sexual orientation is not.
I don't consider myself an activist, but a warrior. Radical Christians and Muslims declared war against the principles of Western Civilization many years ago, and I am fighting for them. Gay equality is one of those principles. Just about every country in western and central Europe is ahead of us, as is Canada. A mere 15 years after the abolition of apartheid, South Africa has full equality for its LGBT citizens! And at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if Israel gets gay marriage before we do. And where it is threatened, it is threatened by backwards religious sects trying to take our rights either by ballots or with bomb vests. The War on Terrorism is a war on religious fanaticism. And that includes American religious fanaticism. Unlike other warriors in the Military, I cannot use weapons to fight this war (but I can defend myself if I am in imminent danger). But I can use every other tool at my disposal. And I will.
While I was unable to attend the March on Washington on Sunday, October 11, I was able to watch these videos of the key speakers. The two that most stirred my emotions were these:
I especially liked Cleve Jones' digs at Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Meanwhile, George W. Bush signed the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (WRERA) just before he left office.
Since Prop H8 passed I have become more militant in my support for gay rights. I will no longer regard a disagreement with me over gay rights as such. I regard it as an active impediment to my rights. Likewise, no candidate who opposes 100% gay equality (which includes gay marriage) gets one red penny or one vote from me, no matter who's running against them. And merely not standing in the way of progress is not enough. I will be writing to my Congressional representative to let him know that he needs to actively push for gay equality now.
And as for religious denominations who oppose our equality: I oppose yours, too. Religion is a choice, sexual orientation is not.
I don't consider myself an activist, but a warrior. Radical Christians and Muslims declared war against the principles of Western Civilization many years ago, and I am fighting for them. Gay equality is one of those principles. Just about every country in western and central Europe is ahead of us, as is Canada. A mere 15 years after the abolition of apartheid, South Africa has full equality for its LGBT citizens! And at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if Israel gets gay marriage before we do. And where it is threatened, it is threatened by backwards religious sects trying to take our rights either by ballots or with bomb vests. The War on Terrorism is a war on religious fanaticism. And that includes American religious fanaticism. Unlike other warriors in the Military, I cannot use weapons to fight this war (but I can defend myself if I am in imminent danger). But I can use every other tool at my disposal. And I will.
Labels: Gay, Gay marriage
