June is the traditional month to celebrate Pride in the LGBTQ community across the country. It is a time of celebration of being proud of who we are as people in a society that still reluctantly only somewhat tolerates our presence in it and to reflect back to the time when the infamous Stonewall riots took place in rebellion to the tactics and tyranny imposed by some on the LGBTQ community. I view Pride in this manner but also view it in even larger perspectives as well. Two years ago I proffered a blog entitled “The Pursuit of Happiness and the Puritans” involving an examination of the strife for rights and dignity in the LGBTQ community in the pursuit of our happiness against the backdrop of society and its very powerful puritanical influences which have shaped our society and which run many times contrary to the concepts of happiness, liberty, freedoms and enjoyment of life. These influences which have been around for hundreds of years in this country still impact our society even today. It is a particularly good read if you have not already done so and significantly important in light of the recent conclusion of Pride month and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend.
President Obama began the month with a Pride proclamation which I guess was significant in that I do not recall any other President offering the same. However, it will take more than a proclamation to appease me for sure. He has promised to sign the Hate Crimes bill and ENDA legislation once these important pieces of law reach his desk …….but in the same breath- I do not see him pushing these bills through and lobbying for them as a leader who understands the need for dignity, freedom and opportunities as others in society have because he was denied them in his own life time and that of his ancestors. You can stimulate the economy all you want and I am not saying it is not important to do so and he did inherit a mess in Iraq created by the incompetency and blindness of his predecessor. However, at the same time, ensuring rights and dignity for all human beings and protecting those who have been left unprotected ought really to be the most important idea being worked on for who cares if more jobs appear or health care is expanded if you still can’t get a job because of discrimination and health care requires having that job to pay for it or you are still the subject of violence in your everyday life.
While the wheels of progress on the federal front move slowly, they are I guess moving forward far more than we have seen in recent years under George’s reign of terror. The state of Ohio which is now my home has been struggling as well to move forward HB176 which will end discrimination in housing, employment, lending and public accommodation based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It is not the first time the bill has been proposed and it is awaiting a stalled vote in the House where there is a good chance of it passing but a very hostile Senate controlled by the party opposite the House and Governor’s office is not going to jump up and down in support of this important piece of legislation. The bill faces stiff opposition by the religious extreme right (direct decentdants if I have ever seen it of those Puritans) The Governor has promised to sign the bill IF it gets to his desk but again I do not see him lobbying for this bill and sometimes it is easy to say you will support the legislation of you know that politically it will never reach the desk because of a hostile Senate. How many years will those of us in the LGBTQ community have to wait before this dignity and freedom is bestowed upon us in our pursuit of happiness?
Pride is also a time to examine one’s self and our pride in who we are and what others like us have accomplished. I am a transgendered woman and I look out there for leadership and accomplishments of others like me. It is not that I am unhappy with the gains of my brothers and sisters in the L, G or B communities or the accomplishments of many of my brothers in the transmen community and in fact I admire them deeply! However, I sometimes get the impression that transwomen are picking up the rear in such gains and accomplishments. For example, while I admire Mara in her leadership of NCTE, her remaining staff members are mostly transmen and the first two openly transgendered people to serve as Congressional aides on the Hill are transmen. Yet- I see so many of my sisters having trouble finding work and very few of us if any in organizations that work for transgendered rights and equality in general. I admire so much the work that Equality Ohio does in fighting for rights and dignity yet I do not believe a single staff person there is transgendered much less a transwomen. Let’s not even talk about the HRC which has no transgendered people on staff locally and nationally has no transgendered people on its board and I still remember two years ago when the group sold me and others in our community down the drain on ENDA! Where are the role models for me as a transwoman and where is the involvement of transgendered people in organizations that fight for our rights? Many talented people in the transgendered community do not have their talents recognized and again, as a transwomen, I still am looking for my leaders and role models.
The Columbus Pride festival was a huge success in 2009. More people came out for the festival and parade this year than any time in history with estimates hovering around 200,000 people. I enjoyed marching in the parade and demonstrating my pride in being who I am as a human being in society. I felt free to be who I am and always have been and lets others know I am proud to be a transwoman and member of the LGBTQ community (I actually claim a couple letters there). The weather was pretty good and everyone attending had a wonderful time and the large turnout was a sign of slowly changing times for our communities. However, I will be honest in saying more progress is needed in many different directions in our state, our nation and society if we are all to be free of hatred and discrimination and able to pursue our happiness in life. To the extent I am so able I willing to continue the fight for such rights and dignity and to build that happiness in my life and the lives of others here with me and in the future generations to come. For that is what Pride is all about in the struggle of the LGBTQ community! Happy Pride and Happy Fourth of July!
President Obama began the month with a Pride proclamation which I guess was significant in that I do not recall any other President offering the same. However, it will take more than a proclamation to appease me for sure. He has promised to sign the Hate Crimes bill and ENDA legislation once these important pieces of law reach his desk …….but in the same breath- I do not see him pushing these bills through and lobbying for them as a leader who understands the need for dignity, freedom and opportunities as others in society have because he was denied them in his own life time and that of his ancestors. You can stimulate the economy all you want and I am not saying it is not important to do so and he did inherit a mess in Iraq created by the incompetency and blindness of his predecessor. However, at the same time, ensuring rights and dignity for all human beings and protecting those who have been left unprotected ought really to be the most important idea being worked on for who cares if more jobs appear or health care is expanded if you still can’t get a job because of discrimination and health care requires having that job to pay for it or you are still the subject of violence in your everyday life.
While the wheels of progress on the federal front move slowly, they are I guess moving forward far more than we have seen in recent years under George’s reign of terror. The state of Ohio which is now my home has been struggling as well to move forward HB176 which will end discrimination in housing, employment, lending and public accommodation based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It is not the first time the bill has been proposed and it is awaiting a stalled vote in the House where there is a good chance of it passing but a very hostile Senate controlled by the party opposite the House and Governor’s office is not going to jump up and down in support of this important piece of legislation. The bill faces stiff opposition by the religious extreme right (direct decentdants if I have ever seen it of those Puritans) The Governor has promised to sign the bill IF it gets to his desk but again I do not see him lobbying for this bill and sometimes it is easy to say you will support the legislation of you know that politically it will never reach the desk because of a hostile Senate. How many years will those of us in the LGBTQ community have to wait before this dignity and freedom is bestowed upon us in our pursuit of happiness?
Pride is also a time to examine one’s self and our pride in who we are and what others like us have accomplished. I am a transgendered woman and I look out there for leadership and accomplishments of others like me. It is not that I am unhappy with the gains of my brothers and sisters in the L, G or B communities or the accomplishments of many of my brothers in the transmen community and in fact I admire them deeply! However, I sometimes get the impression that transwomen are picking up the rear in such gains and accomplishments. For example, while I admire Mara in her leadership of NCTE, her remaining staff members are mostly transmen and the first two openly transgendered people to serve as Congressional aides on the Hill are transmen. Yet- I see so many of my sisters having trouble finding work and very few of us if any in organizations that work for transgendered rights and equality in general. I admire so much the work that Equality Ohio does in fighting for rights and dignity yet I do not believe a single staff person there is transgendered much less a transwomen. Let’s not even talk about the HRC which has no transgendered people on staff locally and nationally has no transgendered people on its board and I still remember two years ago when the group sold me and others in our community down the drain on ENDA! Where are the role models for me as a transwoman and where is the involvement of transgendered people in organizations that fight for our rights? Many talented people in the transgendered community do not have their talents recognized and again, as a transwomen, I still am looking for my leaders and role models.
The Columbus Pride festival was a huge success in 2009. More people came out for the festival and parade this year than any time in history with estimates hovering around 200,000 people. I enjoyed marching in the parade and demonstrating my pride in being who I am as a human being in society. I felt free to be who I am and always have been and lets others know I am proud to be a transwoman and member of the LGBTQ community (I actually claim a couple letters there). The weather was pretty good and everyone attending had a wonderful time and the large turnout was a sign of slowly changing times for our communities. However, I will be honest in saying more progress is needed in many different directions in our state, our nation and society if we are all to be free of hatred and discrimination and able to pursue our happiness in life. To the extent I am so able I willing to continue the fight for such rights and dignity and to build that happiness in my life and the lives of others here with me and in the future generations to come. For that is what Pride is all about in the struggle of the LGBTQ community! Happy Pride and Happy Fourth of July!
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