We Are Indeed Family
November 15, 2008
Okay, that was intense! Intensely wonderful, hopeful and exciting that is. While I haven’t yet seen an official count as to the number of folks who showed up at San Francisco City Hall this morning for Join the Impact, I’m going to make a guesstimate that it was in the vicinity of three kagillion. Aside from the license renewal line at DMV on a Monday morning I’ve never seen so many people in one place at one time! While people were there for the serious business of protesting discrimination and securing full equality it was, in typical gay fashion, quite the little party. Inspiring speeches, tasteful posters, adorable gay men, handsome young lesbians, and precious straight friends and family made for a fabulous crowd. While a few of the signs and tee-shirts communicated strong messages to the Mormon church, all in all it was a peaceful enthusiastic event and I was so glad, and overwhelmed, to be part of it.
To see more of my photos from the San Francisco Join the Impact click here or the image above. This is all for now. I’m off to read reports from the day on other blogs and on some newspaper online editions.
In case you haven’t heard, the Join the Impact rallies were held in more than 300 cities and involved as many as one million participants, and all of it was given birth by two young women, Amy Balliett and Willow Witte, who last week announced a national call to action to GLBTQ communities to peacefully protest Prop 8 and to fight for equal rights across the country. All because two women had an idea and took action. Imagine…
Posted in News and Events
November 16th, 2008 at 6:27 am
So cool, Anita. It’s amazing what one person [or two people] can do when we decide to DO SOMETHING. My partner and I joined several hundred protesters in Cincinnati, Ohio, yesterday. It was peaceful, well-organized [considering it was put together by college students in less than one week] and best of all, Margaret Cho showed up and sang a new protest song she just wrote.
One speaker at the end of the event talked about how important it was that we reach out to people who are different than us and who disagree in order to win this fight–that it won’t be won just by staying in our comfort zones. He pointedly asked how many straight evangelical friends we have. I have to say that hit me right in the heart because I have many and haven’t come out to most of them as I’ve been working through this process of reconciling my faith and my sexuality this past year. But I know it will happen, and the few people who are evangelical Christians who I have shared my journey with have said it’s changed them in some way. That gives me hope, but I need courage and wisdom also. We all do, because he’s right: we won’t win this by hating back or staying angry, as tempting as that may be.
November 16th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
One of my straight charismatic Christian friends spoke up during the open mike portion of our rally in Tallahassee…and noted that she has been banished to the badlands by her fellow “Christians” for consorting with the likes of us “others”. She faces angry, ranting emails in her inbox and not-so-veiled social snubs from these supposed friends. It is very painful and sad. But she also has discovered a very loving set of new friends within the LGBT community. And we are great cooks, have a great sense of humor, and she’s even found some of us believe in God. Wow!
It is hard to have the conversation with people who are so sure they *know* God’s will, and they *know* what the Bible says. But if there is one thing I have in me as a Christian it’s the hope that when enough of us take the chance to be our “otherness” with the love and grace that we have, minds and hearts will start to change. It is a lot harder to demonize someone’s “otherness” when you realize that the “other” is, in fact, a person. Baby steps can sometimes lead to greater distances gained when trying to undo years of brainwashing about “others”. It is a risk to be out, yes! And if I were a queer Anglican living in Nigeria, I might be a little leery given the extreme hatred that’s been exhibited there. But God remains with all of us until the end of the age. And God is the one constant in all the equations. And I gotta say, too, Thank God for blogs like this where we can be of encouragement to one another, and Thank God for God!
November 17th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Amazing! I imagine it was a once in a lifetime experience to be a part of this! United we stand!
November 17th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Ah, Anita. The local gang, as far as I know, didn’t have an impact meeting, since there was a huge racist conflict that happened on Obama Day. So the big thing here was a NAACP event on Saturday.
I so wish I could have gone, or even could have known sooner, but circumstances in my life required me to think on a much smaller scale for a while. You are all heroes to me.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Lisa –> I can only imagine what kind of song Margaret Cho would have written for the event however I can imagine that some of it probably wouldn’t be printable here! Congrats for getting out in Cincinnati, Ohio! While I agree that this effort is going to require we all reach beyond our comfort zones, you’ll know when the right time to do that is for you. The first thing each person needs to tend to before taking action for the greater good is taking the action they need to take for their own spiritual health and journey. You’re doing that girlfriend and it’s amazing!
Susan–>Okay. I loved everything you said but nothing more so than “it’s the hope that when enough of us take the chance to be our “otherness” with the love and grace that we have, minds and hearts will start to change.” I love that and absolutely believe it.
Wendy–> It was and it will continue to be as we all move forward together in this, some of us doing it out in the trenches and others following along as they are able. We are in this together.
Bon–> Sigh. One would like to dream that having an African-American as President-elect could weed another layer of racism out of our country though I sadly suspect there’s going to be a backlash that will draw it out. But then, maybe that’s how the process will go; that this will bring the ugliness out from all those corners where it remains so it can be looked at honestly and confronted. It’s horribly tragic it continues to permeate our world and at the same time, it’s incredible especially when we’re among those who remember MLKJ’s speech/sermon “I Have a Dream” the day he spoke it. At least I’m hoping I’m not the only one old enough to remember here….Forward forward, always moving forward to justice and equality for all.