Dear Editor:
[The following letter is directed to Equality Illinois, organizers of the Nov. 28 town hall on post-election concerns.]
I had the opportunity to attend the "Post Election Forum & Action Fair" on Nov. 28 at the Lake View Presbyterian Church.
My interest levels were high in anticipation that there would be good conversation about the current political situation, and the fears that many of our people have. I was surprised that so little time was made available for input from the floor. I say this with a great deal of love: None of us has the answers to what happens to us under a Trump presidency, but we must have faith in each other, build trust within our community, and I believe the solutions will present themselves to us.
My major concerns were voter turnout and the development of community unity.
It is my firm belief that being able to move beyond own pain and suffering allows us to become available to others' pain. When we wallow in our pain, we can become both self-focused and jaded.
Please do not take my letter as a personal criticism. I know all the good you do for us in striving for justice, but you should have more trust in our people; just perhaps, they may have some answers.
It was good that you moved so quickly to pull this forum together. So many are in fear.
Thank you for all you do for this community.
Joe Murray
Executive Director
Rainbow Sash Movement ( LGBTQ Roman Catholics )
On the other hand
To the Editor:
The article ( Nov. 30, 2016 ) on the death of Cuban revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, was offensively tendentious and one-sided.
In it, Cuban gay activist and physician Alberto Roque Guerra's critique of government oppression during the early days of the AIDS crisis was prominently referenced. But no mention was made of his explicit and eloquent support of the revolution that he said brought dignity to Cubans who had known only degradation under the U.S.-supported Batista dictatorship when Havana was a playground for wealthy Americans seeking prostitutes and gambling in Mafia-controlled casinos.
For LGBT Cubans like Roque Guerra, the struggle for human rights was always framed within the larger context of the struggle for a better life for the vast majority of Cuban people. Today, literacy rates are higher than in the United States and infant mortality rates are lower, while genuine universal healthcare is a right of Cuban citizenship. These achievements benefit all Cubans, gay and straight alike.
In addition, while the U.S. government backed apartheid in South Africa, Cuban forces were fighting the South African surrogates in neighboring Angola. Nelson Mandela credited Cuban forces with playing a decisive role in securing majority rule in South Africa.
WCT's negative assessment of the Cuban revolution and its leader depends on its narrow and exclusive focus on "gay rights." It betrays U.S. parochialism and ignores the stunning improvement in Cuban living standards despite decades of U.S. government's sanctions and boycotts to strangle that small island's inspiring social experiment on behalf of its courageous people.
Bob Schwartz
Chicago