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Friday, November 07, 2008
Editor’s note: Read our feature story about Prop 8 protests in New York here, a related article about Internet activsm here and a feature about criticism of the LGBT movement in California here. In addition, Prop 8 opinion pieces are here and here.
What’s the most effective way to vent anger? How do we—the LGBT community—win over homophobic religious people? What strategies get results? Specifically, are rallies and marches useful tools?
The questions—which activists have tackled for decades—have newfound relevance in the wake of Election Day. Like many LGBT Americans, our Obama optimism was tarnished with the fact that Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and California passed anti-gay measures. In California, voters not only passed Proposition 8—it banned gay marriage, which the state’s supreme court had granted only this summer—but they also voted to ensure chickens are not cooped up in small cages. Yes, our fellow citizens place farm animals’ leg room above our right to equality. How can you not be pissed off?
Rallies and marches are one way to productively channel that energy. “Protests are imperative,” said Gilbert Baker, a veteran activist from the Harvey Milk days who created the Rainbow flag. There may be disagreements about strategies and tactics, but it’s absolutely crucial for people to vent their anger.”
(Speaking of strategies, we are flabbergasted at the online campaigns to boycott all things Utah—home of the Mormon Church, which footed Prop 8—including the Sundance Film Festival. How unproductive is that? Sundance has launched countless queer activists films, openly including and promoting them as part of the festival.)
Protests are also effective in getting attention.
Leading up to Nov. 4, we would express our frustration over Prop 8 to our straight friends—who would look at us with blank faces. What’s Prop 8?
Then the protests and rallies began in California. And the photos inundated the media. Suddenly, everyone knew about Proposition 8. And they knew the Mormon and Catholic churches were behind it.
So yes, rallies can make a difference. Visibility is important. At Wednesday’s massive rally in at a Mormon temple in Midtown, we met Brent Corrrigan, an actor from San Diego who participated in the rallies there. He told us the attitude on the streets in California was different because, for starters, gay people in California were the ones directly targeted. But in addition, he said, the community had begun pointing fingers and loudly questioning its leadership.
“The people who spearheaded a movement that failed were telling us to take down our ‘Chose Love Not Hate’ signs and replace them with ‘No on Prop 8’ signs,” he said. “They didn’t want hate and anger to be the base of our movement.”
Whatever our messaging and strategies, we New Yorkers don’t want to be in the same position of Californians: reacting to a defeat. As most everyone knows, a same-sex marriage equality bill has passed our Assembly and awaits approval in the Senate, which is now mired in the topic of gay nuptials.
We have faith that our advocacy leaders at Empire State Pride Agenda are currently making all the right moves behind the scenes in the Albany. We expect a few glitches along the way, but we trust that LGBT issues will see Senate support.
Yet, we can’t sit back and expect someone else to do the work. We have to be out and visible in our daily lives. We have to become active as a community—whether it’s through a formal group like Pride Agenda or an Internet movement such as jointheimpact.com, which organized Prop 8 rallies across the nation.
If you want to protest the church, fine. If you want to work within religious structures, that’s also fine—join Pride Agenda’s Pride in My Pulpit, or participate in events such as Pride & Passion at Middle Collegiate Church or even buy the documentary “For the Bible Tells Me So” and lend it to friends and family who are confused about issues of homosexuality and Christianity.
But do something. “The real trick now is to make use of the new energy,” noted Ann Northrop, host of weekly news show “Gay USA” and a veteran activist.
Because when the next big gay issue comes up in New York, we don’t want to have to march in the streets. We want to celebrate in them.
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