A Perspective From the Hill

So I got a text message the other day that Barak Obama said he was a “fierce supporter of gay rights.”

What does that mean for the gay movement? I recall an interview with him where he said that he couldn’t support gay marriage because of religious beliefs. Obama belongs to the same denomination that I do: the United Church of Christ (not to be confused with the Church of Christ). I know for a fact that my, our, denomination doesn’t tolerate ANY form of discrimination. In the documentary “ The Believers,” they show that the denomination, which is primarily white and heterosexual passed a resolution supporting transgender rights. Therefore, Obama has no leg to stand on (pardon my cliché) when it comes to religious observance. I honestly hoped that since he belonged to my denomination that he would support us, but I was sorely disappointed.

Admittedly, he has to tow the party line, but what if a person stood up to that? What if he stood up said that this was wrong and that it relegated the queer community to second-class citizenship? Many of his prospective appointments are from the queer community. Obama obviously has no qualms about gay rights. Why won’t he say it? Activism doesn’t follow party lines and I challenge and queer organizations to refute me. That is my challenge to the gay community: Prove me wrong. Prove to me that the Democrats will actually do something for us. Obama has created an amazing grassroots movement and his transition team actually listens to what these groups are saying. Right now they are talking about health care. We need to make them talk about civil rights.

The Gay Rights Movement is the civil rights movement of the twenty first century. We need to stand up and tell our institutions that we won’t stand for anything less and our civil and human rights. There has been a lot of talk about whom he has chosen to be the person to perform the invocation at Obama’s inauguration. I know we don’t agree with him, but we cannot battle individuals. We need to win individuals to our cause, not make enemies of them. We are fighting institutional discrimination. I know that this begins with the individual, but it has become ingrained in the institutions of our country. That is whom we are fighting; we are not fighting Mormons, we are fighting the Mormon Church. We are not fighting the Christian Right, we are fighting the institutions they have created. My best friend for a decade was Mormon. I’m sure his family believed I was going to hell, but you never would have guessed it from their behavior. I called his parents mom and dad. They loved me. My lifestyle they may not have agreed with, but they never judged me for it.

So now we have it. We are at a crossroads of change. What are we going to do? There are so many directions that we can go, but we are fractured. We need to unite; we need to have one voice. WE HAVE NO CHOICE. If they can take away a person’s civil rights by a vote, then when do they stop? Our so-called leaders aren’t doing it for us. We must take matters into our own hands. We have experienced setbacks, but we will prevail. It’s not if, but when. What are you going to do to further our cause? Are you going to sit on your ass or are you going to do something about it? I went to a march/rally the last week. It was very powerful. I was in the streets shouting that no one will take my rights from me (I lost my voice). Have you ever felt the pain of your rights being taken away? I’m not a full member of our democracy; I am a second-class citizen. But as a citizen of this country I will accept nothing less than full equality.

What are you going to do to change that? Will you accept your position or will you fight for your rights? CIVIL RIGHTS ARE NEVER GIVEN, THEY MUST BE TAKEN. Will you take them?