Through the years
I am writing this letter in response to Victor Salvo's comments titled "To march or not to march."
Forty years after Stonewall I think we still don't quite understand the power of the LGBT movement and how it has changed the landscape we live in. Yet more needs to be done.
Our focus has moved from sexual activity to relationship building. Our discussion is no longer about monogamous versus non-monogamous relationships, but the debate now is civil unions versus same-sex marriage. What a shift!
AIDS was tragedy for our community. I lost many friends as many others did. I believe the pandemic was a wake of up call for most of us to respond with courage, compassion and love, and move beyond our fear.
If it were not for the decision of straight judges in the Massachusetts Supreme Court, I know our political agenda would be different today. Gay marriage would still be on the gay political back-burner—another reason why I firmly believe the movement has a life of its own.
Our struggle has always led us back to the streets, and it's from the streets we get our energy. We now have a newer generation without our experience; however, maybe they will not make our mistakes.
The strength of this movement does not lay in our experience. It is based on the continuing response to the call to fight injustice. I thank God that each new LGBT generation has been open to and responded to that call.
During Gay Pride, I am especially proud of LBGTQ youth and their challenge to the older generation not to forget them. They instinctively understand the power of being out.
The debate surrounding a potential march on Washington, D.C., is not a new. In 1979, in connection with the first LGBT march on Washington, I chaired the local march activities, and sat on the national steering committee. Opposition to the march came from the predominately gay political establishment, and that included most bar owners. You can always find an excuse not to confront your fear.
I would support another march on Washington but for LGBT-related cultural reasons, not for political ones. We need to remind ourselves and those that follow us of the real power of Stonewall, and what that produced.
Stonewall was not produced by the haves in the community. It was the have-nots in our community who showed us the way.
Our youths need to be presented with a vision of hope, rather than one of despair. We need to remind ourselves that our community is not made up of only white gay men who seem fixated on incremental rights. Nor should we be willing to sell out others' rights, as we did with the transgender community.
We need a vision of our community that is inclusive and not exclusive. We lack unity, and that seems to be 900-pound gorilla in the room that no one wants to talk about.
This is not an either/or situation. Our community is quite capable of marching on Washington and taking care of things in our own backyard. We are capable of multitasking. God knows we have the talent and the resources.
Joe Murray
Chicago
Gays and Iran
As news accounts continue to report on the repressive actions by Iran's government against citizens marching in peaceful demonstrations to hold their government accountable for fair and just elections, we must keep current events in Iran in historical perspective.
Let us not forget that since Iran's revolution in 1979, which replaced the Shah with a theocracy, many segments of the population have experienced repression under Iranian law. Of the many segments, in particular, are homosexual inhabitants. Since 1979, an estimated 4000 gay males and lesbians have been executed in Iran. Same-sex sexuality between consenting partners is termed a crime in Iran. Iranian law condemns men involved in sexual penetrative acts with the death penalty, and non-penetrative acts with flogging, until the fourth offense, which warrants the death penalty. Women accused of engaging in same-sex acts are flogged, until the fourth time when they too are punished with death.
Examples are many. Two gay Iranian teenagers, 18 and 17, were hung in the streets of Iran on July 19, 2005, in Edalat ( Justice Square ) in Mashbad, Iran. Reports of the widespread repression of homosexuals in Iran have been verified by Human Rights Watch and the Iranian Student News Agency. Let us be clear, repressive regimes around the world currently and throughout history scapegoat, oppress, and exterminate homosexuals. The time is long since passed that we speak out against repression in all of its forms.
Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld
Assistant Professor
Multicultural and International
Curriculum Studies
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
