As the fight for marriage equality continues in the states, the forces of social reaction redouble their efforts to brazen their way past the fact that they are losing.
Our opponents' war with reality is darkly comical. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican nominee for governor, perversely asserts that laws criminalizing certain sex acts between consenting adults – ruled unconstitutional a decade ago – are necessary to prevent sexual assaults against children. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie doubles down on his arbitrary claim that only voters, not their duly elected legislators, should change marriage law. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence renews his commitment to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. Former Sen. Jim DeMint, at the Heritage Foundation, repeats the baseless claim that children are harmed by gay parents. Somehow it is gay citizens, not those who constantly attack us, who are the danger.
Gay families have plenty of company in the right's crosshairs. The Supreme Court overturned the pre-clearance provision of the Voting Rights Act, setting off a resurgence of voter-suppression efforts. After Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis blocked an anti-abortion bill with an 11-hour filibuster, Gov. Rick Perry announced another special legislative session to push it through. U.S. House Republicans cited security concerns in vowing to defeat immigration reform, despite the Senate bill's escalated militarization of the Mexican border. You think this is your country?
The bullies' and usurpers' various targets cannot afford the illusion of occupying separate silos. That would play into the divide-and-conquer strategy exemplified by the National Organization for Marriage plan "to drive a wedge between gays and blacks." We must learn to recognize our common threads. As Trayvon Martin's killer is tried in Florida, activists and officials in D.C. contend with anti-LGBT attacks in the first week of summer.
In the 1960s, the Black Panthers were seen as threatening when they carried guns, despite their self-defense rhetoric and their decidedly un-scary breakfasts for children. Now, gun-rights efforts that go far beyond our Founders' well-regulated militias portray vigilante justice as patriotism, and a wannabe cop is cheered by Web trolls for stalking and killing an unarmed black teenager. Meanwhile, the paternalistic mayor of America's largest city stands by a police stop-and-frisk program that treats being black or Hispanic as reasonable suspicion. How can we accept a situation where armed white men are seen as protecting their neighborhoods while unarmed black men are suspects? Do our own loved ones have to be cut down before we say, Enough?
Some lives are discounted by those who feed on hate. We as survivors must take the risk of speaking up lest the flood of intolerance carry us off too. Holding on in common cause requires patience and perseverance.
One reader responded to a recent column of mine with a lecture on my "cis gender privilege." She added reasonably, "If you have been listening to the disenfranchised communities and incorporating them into your discussions and work, please provide me with links or other resources that demonstrate this." Despite her apparent mistrust, I found her solicitation of evidence refreshing, and I sent her several links. We need to build alliances that acknowledge our differences, not simply mirror ourselves.
Working together across multiple lines of diversity is hard. It is easy to dump our baggage on one another and punish people for showing up. That makes for poor introductions and empty chairs. Yet coalition work is not a safe space. It can be contentious and uncomfortable and aggravating, but is essential if we are to prevail.
Justice is not something to which we are entitled, but to which we are called. Without our faithful engagement, it will wither. Let us rally and challenge one another. Our nation is at stake.
Richard J. Rosendall is a writer and activist. He can be reached at rrosendall@starpower.net.
...moreThe recent economic downturn led to the closing of numerous businesses. Companies lacking sufficient capitalization, a clear strategic plan, or simply adequate management often went down in flames at the height of the crisis. Local LGBT nonprofits were buffeted by the same economic storms, yet many rode out the gales and survived and even thrived. How does a small group set up to help the community without making a profit keep going?
''Nonprofits are just like businesses,'' says Sam McClure, director of affiliate relations and external affairs for the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. ''Nonprofits have a core product, they engage in basic business operations, and are set up to serve specific clients.'' She adds that ''good planning, consistent management, and budgeting are essential for the survival of an organization.''
Brent Minor of Team DC
(Photo by Ward Morrison)
Among the District's nonprofits is Team DC, an organization that works with local sports clubs to help dispel discrimination against LGBT people who wish to participate in sports. Team DC works with about 30 individual clubs with total membership of approximately 3,500. The group coordinates funding to local sports groups, provides sporting outlets for area LGBT teams, and administers scholarships for LGBT student athletes. The group's only paid staff member, Brent Minor, describes Team DC as a resource for LGBT individuals who find it difficult to be a member of other sports teams.
''Many of the teams we serve have been around for 20 to 30 years,'' says Minor. ''Most of them have been fairly resilient and have managed to keep going even during tough economic times. People still want to participate in sports, even when businesses are having problems. This gives us a ready-made constituency.''
Casa Ruby is another nonprofit, designed as ''a multicultural center and safe space'' for Washington's Latino LGBT community. The organization works directly with local governments in providing services including HIV testing, combating youth homelessness, employment assistance, ESL classes, and legal counseling for gay and transgender members of the Latino community. According to Henry Maticorena of Casa Ruby, the organization has been growing in recent years despite cuts in government programs to social-services organizations due to the recent sequestration of the federal government.
One of the means that Casa Ruby uses to enable itself to provide services to its constituency is through a series of small contracts with other nonprofits to conduct HIV testing through its volunteer base. Casa Ruby also produced a 2013 calendar featuring a different transgender woman each month as a means of raising awareness in the Washington transgender community.
One of the Washington/Baltimore area's most distinctive philanthropic organizations is Brother, Help Thyself, a community-based organization that provides financial and other support to LGBT and AIDS/HIV groups. Founded in 1978 by four gay motorcycle clubs, the group began by raising funds for a local gay men's health organization, which ultimately grew into Whitman-Walker Health, one of the country's leading HIV prevention and treatment foundations.
According to BHT's president, James Slattery, the secret for his group's success has been to ''be as far as possible from running itself as a traditional business. Our operating model is to raise as much money as we can and give it all out at the end of the year.'' The organization has no paid staff and no permanent offices. It even holds its board meetings in conference space rented from another local LGBT nonprofit.
Slattery says BHT just kicked-off its annual grant drive. Among its fundraising activities is its annual Gay & Lesbian Night at King's Dominion, scheduled for Sept. 14.
John F. Stanton, a CAGLCC member, is the president of SRP & Associates Inc., a strategic marketing and public relations firm in Northern Virginia.
Winner of the 2012 NGLCC Chamber of the Year Award, the Chamber means business. For more information, visit caglcc.org.
...more''I grew up in Texas, I grew up scared for my life at times,'' says Joshua Vogelsong. ''I've had my life threatened, I've been beaten up – all that kind of stuff.''
So when it came time to name a regular punk-inspired dance party at the Black Cat nearly two years ago, the local promoter opted for the tongue-in-cheek, double-entendre moniker ''Gay Bash.'' Naturally, Vogelsong, who spins at the party as DJ Joshua alongside DJ Dean -- aka Dean Douglas Sullivan -- never expected the name to become literal.
''It's unfortunate the whole situation, just from all sides,'' Vogelsong says, referring to the assault on local drag entertainer Heidi Glüm the night of last month's Gay Bash. Of course, it's unlikely that the two women who attacked Glüm -- or the male videographer who filmed the incident and posted it to YouTube -- had even heard of Gay Bash. The altercation happened at Manny & Olga's takeout restaurant down the block after Glüm had finished performing at Gay Bash. But the incident shows, as Vogelsong puts it, ''what we are up against,'' particularly in the context of a recent spate of local anti-LGBT attacks.
For his part, Miles DeNiro, the man behind the drag persona Glüm, says the incident has inspired him to become more outspoken and active against bullying.
''This has really taught me that I can't be silent anymore,'' he says. ''If I see anything, and anything happens to anybody I know, I'm going to speak up and I'm going to do the right thing.''
Glüm will serve as the host at the July edition of Gay Bash next Friday, July 12, which will also feature a performance by Glüm's ''drag daughter,'' Rumor Millz. While originally considering incorporating the video of the altercation into a performance, Glüm now says, ''I really don't want to promote any more of what's happened.''
Instead, partygoers can expect a typical punk-inspired performance by this ''supermodel of the underworld,'' something like a cross between Heidi Klum and Courtney Love. ''I don't really talk,'' she explains. ''I just kind of look haughty and angry all the time.''
The next Gay Bash is Friday, July 12, starting at 10 p.m. Black Cat Backstage, 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $5. Call 202-667-4490 or visit blackcatdc.com.
...moreWriter Eric Poole is trying to figure things out now that the Supreme Court has ruled that he is indeed a full human being.
Marriage equality isn't the only realm in LGBT rights that has changed in the last 40 years.
Even with the a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act deemed unconstitutional, our nation's bravest citizens still wait for equality.
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