ATTENTION QUEERS! Info For the Politically Inclined

6 December, 2006 - 10:25pm — stars and nothing

"Rightwing Christians have us on the defensive, scrambling to prove how nice and normal, how patriotic and churchgoing, we are. But we'll never convince our enemies we're just like them -- and not because many of us aren't. That's true, but irrelevant. Homophobes don't hate us because we're different; they call us different because they hate us. When we romanticized promiscuity, they condemned us for not forming long-term, monogamous relationships; when we romanticize long-term monogamous relationships, they condemn us for "mocking" and "destroying" marriage. We're their scapegoats. They need to call us guilty to feel innocent. They need to call us dirty to feel clean."

This and more from ACT UP! new york, some awesome and powerful essays on gay rights and queer solidarity in America. Read it and cheer.

http://www.actupny.org/documents/PINKTANK/index.html

Tags:

Comments

7 December, 2006 - 12:35pm — Azul Love

Oh, heck no

Ummm went to the website. Is this some kind of war you have going on againts the straights. What the heck is it with this enemies thing. Look I am all for gay rights and all but being like they are with the whole enemies thing and calling them "straights" is not the end to are oppression I guess. Look u may think I am wrong but before we start putting on the war paint maybe someone should look in the mirror and see that doing this is not better than what they do.

7 December, 2006 - 6:30pm — stars and nothing

it's not a matter of

it's not a matter of declaring all straight people as the enemy, I have a great many straight friends who are very supportive and accepting of me. It's a matter of separating those loving allies from the moral majority in America who has made it their personal goal to demonize and scapegoat gays.

I look in the mirror every day and resolve to fight for what I believe in as best i can. I think it's better to continually negotiate my personal struggle and re-evaluate my beliefs than to be complacent and pretend that America really does provide "liberty and justice for all."

We do have enemies, it's just a matter of fighting the right ones.

Love and rage,
emily

"you've come a long long way and you
deserve to be really happy..."
-kimya dawson

7 December, 2006 - 6:15pm — jojojo

I love it.

I love it.
and - in my circles - I am usually always the only one who voices opinions which are similar to the ones in that pamphlet :-(
Too bad.
But I think many queer people are brainwashed in terms of what acceptance and equality means, and they don't dare to name injustice as it is. As if queer people have to continuously be grateful if they are not being beaten up. Why is there so much paranoia against naming injustice, and against possibly wanting to DO anything about it?

This is how I think/feel.

And as for the comment by Azul Love: The main enemy is not "straights", but the (American) government, the extreme right, the moral Crusaders, things like that.

We have all been injured, profoundly. (Donna Haraway)
I Am Out, Therefore I Am. (Okay, mostly.)

7 December, 2006 - 9:49pm — the mouse that ...

Well

I am the last one to denounce equal rights for queer people. Of course queer should have acceptance; of course queerness shouldn't be a stigmatized characteristic. It often is, though, even for those who say they aren't homophobic, even for queer people who have internalized heterosexism in a heteronormative world.

However, militarism is not the most effective way to combat prejudice. Emphasizing the divide between "us" and "them," between the "moral majority" and objects of discrimination only compounds polarization. Who do we best persuade when we shout our words and draw deep lines? Ourselves.

Yes, there is a place for activism. Yes, fighting for equal rights with a cohesive, unified strategy makes sense. Of course concessions are inequal. But stepping off of the pedestal of idealism for a minute, we will not get anything accomplished unless we work at levels accessible to those minds we are trying to change. We must go into the workforce, into schools, and live our normal lives, live as if queerness is already not an issue. Spouting slogans only familiar to us will not gain us power. Persuading others that equal rights are beneficial not only to queer people individually but for society as a whole will. The best way of persuasion is by becoming a part of society, by finding success in every field, not by alienation of the "moral majority."

They made a circle that shut me out:
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We made a circle that drew them in.

I do respect what you do, but shoving it in people's faces and portraying portriats of vicitimization won't help.
No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless; there is too much work to do.--Dorothy Day

8 December, 2006 - 12:39am — jojojo

http://www.moralmajority.com/

http://www.moralmajority.com/
Moral majority is the name of a very particular organization (which claims to represent the moral values of the majority).

We have all been injured, profoundly. (Donna Haraway)
I Am Out, Therefore I Am. (Okay, mostly.)

8 December, 2006 - 3:40am — jojojo

...

probably not many people are gonna read this any more, as it's off the front page. But I had to at least imagine to share this:

in response to the mouse that roared:

I just spend 3 hours writing a letter to some university official explaining to them why they should provide our queer student group with substantial funding. And all over the letter I emphasized how much the flourishing of our group is in the interest to the university as a whole, and how much the whole student community would benefit from it.
So it's not that I'm not doing those things which you advocate. I agree with you that we must do those things.

But I think there must also be times where we temporarily stop licking ass to the powerful people. (Sorry if this expression is too strong.) You write "Whom do we convince with that (if we speak in the style of the ACT UP link)? Ourselves!"
And I think this is quite true. Just, hey, this is not completely unimportant or unnecessary either.

I think we need both. At least I need both, at this point of my life.

We have all been injured, profoundly. (Donna Haraway)
I Am Out, Therefore I Am. (Okay, mostly.)

8 December, 2006 - 6:47pm — Azul Love

I am not

I am not trying to say fighting for our rights is not needed. I know how harsh america and its government can be. I also know there are a great number of americans who think I am lower than human. There are those who think I am a threat to their children. I also know that just because sometimes I am angry, when these laws are passed or when another press release about some conservative group boycotting a foundation that supports me and my lifestyle, does not mean a call for war. Believe it or not these people the moral majority are not just people I dont know but people I know and love. I am not going to move this nations way of thinking by demonizing them just as they demonize me. The thing is talking face to face with these people some are not bad they just don't understand at all. They have been taught to think a certain way. Anyways this is just one lesbian womans opinion.