“I shudder to imagine what’s ahead, not just for our community, but for our brothers and sisters in all segments of society… at this point, we’re all in it together. Solidarity is one thing we have going for us, as long as we don’t forget it.”
UNITED WE STAND
Why do we use the slogans “gay pride,” “black power,” “black lives matter,” “women’s rights?” Why can’t straight people have pride and men have rights? Why don’t white lives matter? To state the obvious, it’s because these terms reflect the source of our struggles; the shame of being gay or lesbian or transgender, the longstanding impotence of Black Americans, the indifference society shows to the death of Black men in confrontations with police, the relegation of women to second-class status. Heterosexuals have not felt shame, whites have not been ill-treated, men have never lacked rights, ergo these expressions become meaningless in reverse.
But the more distance we put between us and the disturbing roots of our troubles, the less our slogans make sense. “Gay pride” has been becoming little more than a fun catchphrase in recent years. Poll show everyone loves us now! Marriage is not only legal, but the idea that it once was outlawed seems archaic, even though it’s only been a few years. Even the evangelical churches had mostly given up on gay bashing, while Republican politicians train their eyes on the transgender men and women in our shared acronym. And surely they’ll soon tire of those attacks, right?
Pride season arguments have centered on corporate sponsorships, diversity and the role of police. Maybe some people used the moment to protest for one of those signature pieces of national legislation that go nowhere in Congress, but we seemed to worry less about political action. As for women, we’re all post-feminists whatever that means. We never passed the ERA, but sex discrimination is illegal under much of federal law, so who cares? We can still debate whether or not it’s okay for a man to hold the door. If I’m carrying packages, I think it’s fine! What do you say? And didn’t we just make Juneteenth a federal holiday?
This year feels different. We’re not facing Fred Phelps and a band of church ladies. We’re facing the Proud Boys, the white supremacists, the Patriot Front and the rest of the angry white men toting guns and smoke grenades. The attacks on transgender Americans have intensified beyond anything we’ve seen in history, with two dozen anti-LGBT bills enacted and signed into law around the country and anti trans violence at a record high, the Human Rights Campaign reports.
Public schools are being stripped of the right to teach about slavery and the civil rights movement. In Florida, gay or students kids who confide in a teacher or a school counselor must be reported to their parents. As for women, not only are we losing the right to choose whether or not to carry a baby to term, we’re losing the right to do so in the case of rape or incest, or even when our reproductive health hangs in the balance. That choice is about to be given to the overwhelmingly male state legislatures and governors, who take direction, not from the majority of voters, but from a small faction of far right nuts. Check out the Republican Party in the state of Texas which just decided that Joe Biden is not a legitimate president, that Texas can secede from the United States if it wants to, and that homosexuality is an “abnormal lifestyle choice.” Yes, that’s all part of the party platform, approved by voice vote in mid-June.
We are all under attack from the same hostile factions and from the politicians who are taking their cues from the fringe.
I shudder to imagine what’s ahead, not just for our community, but for our brothers and sisters in all segments of society, including the many honorable straight white men who stand with us. Together, we’re in the majority. And at this point, we’re all in it together. Solidarity is one thing we have going for us, as long as we don’t forget it.
