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I adore Margaret Cho!
Kenneth R Cooper Jr
Acting President and Organizer
FREE AMERICA
Activist for a Better Tomorrow
http://www.free-america.us
please visit http://www.margaretcho.com or
http://www.loveisloveislove.com
I Have A Dream
What do we do if we don't get the democratic candidate to support same
sex
marriage? We don't think about that until we have to think about it. I
never
have a back up plan. I just assume that when I step up, there are going
to
be stairs there. Perhaps it's foolish, but fools rush in, where angels
fear
to tread. I am no angel. I am the former, but that hasn't done me any
harm
so far.
If there is no going back from here, if we are to hold fast to our
beliefs,
if we continue to display these acts of civil 'disobedience,' what else
can
we do but create new standards for our elected officials?
If gay and lesbian couples continue to line up at city halls all over the
nation demanding marriage licenses, if one by one, the mayors decide to
let
the people have what rightly belongs to them, if the media sees these
families, solid and loving, so many already in place for years and years,
yet without acknowledgement from government agencies and society at
large,
if they are unable to ignore the numbers of us willing to fight for what
we
believe in, if we can become an army of lovers, how can we lose this war?
Would they bring out the riot police? Throw tear gas instead of bridal
bouquets into the waiting bridesmaids hands? Hose the newlyweds off the
street? "The harder they come, the harder they fall, one and all."
We have no idea how powerful we actually are. So many of us have not
voted
or even registered to vote. Understandably so, for we were never
considered
part of the general, 'respectable' population. Why vote in a country that
cares so little about who we are? "This land is your land, but this land
isn't my land" - that is what so many of us have thought. This second
class
citizenship has sunk in so deeply that we have barely any awareness of
it.
We had no idea that this is the enemy we are truly fighting. "The enemy
is
within, don't confuse me with him." That quote is from an Elliott Smith
song
and feels overwhelmingly appropriate.
That silent complicity with the status quo, even with the great strides
in
GLBT activism and the burgeoning mainstream gay icons of "Will & Grace"
and
"Queer Eye For the Straight Guy," has kept the true face of who we are
quietly hidden. We have no knowledge of how far our reach is. We don't
know
our own strength. We don't know that we are warriors. The time has come
for
us to know. Even if you are still in the closet, the voting booth is a
private place to fight. No one has to know which side you are on but you,
and know that when you are ready, you will be welcomed with open arms
into
your true family, the tribe you were born to.
If you are not gay, it is still your issue, because if we are to lose
this
battle, who will be there to defend your rights? If the government is
allowed to take freedoms away from a certain group of people, then how
much
longer will it be until they come for you? We are a much more formidable
opponent than anyone would have known. We've never had a chance to grab
the
brass wedding ring, the symbol of equality, the real civil union - not
between us in place of marriage - but the union we have with the rest of
the
citizens of this nation. How strong is your grip?
In the immortal words of Bette Davis, as Margo in "All About Eve" -
"Fasten
your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night."
--
Remember," Only a dreamer can have a dream come true"
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