LGBT Rights Aren't Free!
DO something!
(Or... "We’re not in Kansas anymore!!!")
(Feb. 22, 1999)
I’ve just read about two bills going before the Indiana State House and Senate, and I am outraged! It’s ridiculous that ANY person, gay or otherwise, needs laws to have human rights! This country gets involved in China and other countries because people are discriminated against and mistreated, jailed, and even murdered for being different. Yet there are NO U.S. laws to prohibit U.S. citizens from being mistreated in this country just because someone doesn’t like a person’s sexuality. The reason is not enough people care PUBLICLY!
“Fags don’t matter." That's what SOME say.
Matthew Shepard was murdered because he was gay, and a so-called minister led a group of “christians” outside the funeral carrying signs saying “Fags = Death” and other HATE slogans. And he claims to believe, in his own heart, that he’s doing God’s work! (If gays would do something like this outside a minister's funeral, you'd better believe they would all be arrested for breaking some archiac law, if not much worse!) Are christians supposed to teach their children to hate Gays and that it's ok to murder them?
"Fags don't count." That's what SOME say.
What has to happen before enough people stand up for us? First of all, we have to stand up for ourselves! We have to get MAD enough to do something about it. How can we expect any freedoms if we’re not willing to speak out for them. No one is just going to give them to us because we exist. Just ask the women old enough to remember how they were treated before they got the vote. Or ask any black person what life was like before the 60’s and Martin Luther King and the many others, black and white, that fought for their right to be treated equal. Yes, there were whites joining in the fight for equal rights, but they joined in, which means the blacks started the fight first.
It angers me that a Hate Crimes bill is in the Indiana House right now, when it should have been passed years ago on the national level. And to know that someone is pushing an anti-gay bill like the one to block us from adopting or being foster parents is even worse! And it scares me that three states (FL, NH, OK) have already adopted some form of this prejudice and a fourth (AR) is working on it now. What can we do?
First of all, take opportunites to let the people in power know your thoughts and needs. From local to state to the federal government, you need to tell them you will not be overlooked anymore. Then you need to tell your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and anyone that likes you it is time for them to take a stand too. We have to have numbers to be taken seriously! Sad, but true. Let them know your votes will be going to the ones that takesGLBT rights seriously and respond to our needs. Let them know your money will be spent in GLBT owned or friendly establishments, and for products coming from GLBT owned or friendly companies. You can’t take this too seriously, and the ignorance and hate can NOT be underestimated!
In the 70’s, a lot of headway was made for our rights. But the 80’s and 90’s and AIDS have revived a lot of hate and discrimination. Don’t expect it to get any better without some confrontation, because it won’t.
This is supposed to be the "land of the FREE and the home of the BRAVE." Let's act like it!
Tell both your state and federal Representatives and Senators know how you feel! You can bet there is something like this going on in YOUR state government or it will be soon!
To locate YOUR state Representative or Senator, go to http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm and choose your state.
To find your U.S. Representative, go to http://www.house.gov/writerep/.
To find your U.S. Senator, go to http://www.senate.gov/.