Militant Homosexuals
Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about “militant homosexuals” who have a “propensity for voilence” and are a “threat to society.”
I’ve been having a hard time really verbalizing my feelings about this. But I will try, for your sake.
Remember the peace movement? I’m talking Vietnam War here. There you saw a movement for peace, and it started out with people sitting around on laws. Having “lay-ins” in the streets, peaceable obstruction, quiet protest. They tried to fight fire with love, and they were largely ignored. Then you saw an escalation. People started chanting, yelling, holding more boldly worded signs. There started to be an energy, an anger. A bitterness. And still, the war raged on. That’s when you started seeing riots and broken windows and things that escalated beyond “civil disobedience” to violence and terror.
Why?
Because no one really listened. They were written off as selfish and naive at first, and misinformed to the last. The government ignored them and would have continued to do so indefinitely if public opinion had not changed as a whole.
Now we are seeing the same thing.
First the gays quietly protested, they kept to themselves, they stood peaceably on street corners, put gimmicky bumperstickers on their cars and wore rainbow tshirts. They tried to mobilize- but let’s be honest: they are a minority. Even in California there are rainbow colored pockets on the coast, but the state as a whole is farmland. Conservative. “Family Values”. So the minority lost it’s voice, as always happens in these cases.
They lost their voice.
I can’t even imagine how it must feel, to be doing everything you can to fight for what you believe is right, and then to simply have it all silenced. The media says, “well, now that’s over”, and you are expected to go home to your wife who is no longer your wife, to your children whom you are no longer legally entitled to, and to simply shut up.
Of course the demonstrations escalated. In ANY case where a minority tries to vocalize and are cast aside, the demonstrations escalate. And gay people are no more prone to voilence than peace protestors, blacks or latinos. In every case where once peacable demonstrations take a turn for the bitter and evocative it is not done because they WANT to be voilent, but because they see NO OTHER WAY for their voice to be heard.
Not that I approve of voilence- of course not- but I understand.
I understand that this is the way the world works, and unless the government takes actions to protect the rights of a minority from the subjugation of the majority, in EVERY SINGLE CASE the minority will turn to civil disobedience and eventually voilence.
And in every case, while there are pockets of anger, the greater sum of people simply suffer voicelessly, dependent on someone else to take up their cause.
You shouldn’t be afraid of “militant homosexuals”. You should seek to hear the subtext- to truly understand what is happening. Just as I seek to be the voice for the voiceless, believing that Christ would do the same were he still in possession of a physical body.
Oh, wait, he is: me and you.
Me, and you.
zeemanb replied:
Sorry, the title just grabbed me, nothing to add here other than you got me thinking about some bears who are “militant” in their pursuit of ME……lol…
November 23, 2008 at 3:10 pm. Permalink.
anita replied:
Lindsey,
I appreciate your thoughts/observations on this whole thing. Just as you, I do not condone any violent or for that matter disrespectful behavior for any reason; not when it was being leveled at gays before the election and not at any prop 8 supporters now. But like you I also understand it. The frustration that comes from having your relationship, love, family and human self-worth demeaned is overwhelming. To have your voice unheard when the debate raging is about your very person is beyond the pale. So yes, it’s understandable. Added to that is the growing anger and frustration that many of us never expressed in the days leading up to the election because to have voiced any of it would have been used against us by the Yes on Prop 8 campaign. So we took it on the chin as we stood in the public square; we took the cursing, the ridicule, the lies, the shouting, the name-calling even when it was right in our face. I think all those repressed feelings, both in the days leading to the election, and frankly, for much of our lifetimes, has finally popped the cork for a few among us. And as you said, we aren’t the first minority group to do so and I could only pray we would be the last though human history tells us sadly that people will always find a minority group to oppress.
November 23, 2008 at 5:17 pm. Permalink.
waltzinexile replied:
Your title grabbed me, too. I was worried I had found another blog to add to my “Equality Watch” folder in my feed reader, and was going to be up to renamed blog “Cowardly Bigot #12.” What a relief to discover that someone else is sick to death of the mischaracterization of all those protesters as “gay vigilantes” or “gay thugs.” And I’m not condoning violence, either, but BOY do I understand. I honestly think I might be feeling a little violent myself.
Fingers crossed for an equality-minded CA court decision in March.
November 23, 2008 at 5:47 pm. Permalink.
Stephanie replied:
Lindsey-I have been thinking a lot about this myself lately and you have found such a great way to express it. I appreciate your willingness to not only understand but to be a voice. It’s encouraging. Thank you.
Waltz-You just crack me up.
Oh! Lindsey, by the way, I got your book! HOW EXCITING!
Thanks again.
November 23, 2008 at 8:23 pm. Permalink.
e2tc replied:
Hmm… excellent points, Lindsey. The word “militant” seems to be slapped on people who won’t shut up, IIRC correctly about both the Civil Rights movement and people who protested against the Vietnam War.
Being told that you shouldn’t exist tends to make people angry – which is completely understandable, I think. (Though violence is a bad, bad “option.”)
November 24, 2008 at 2:29 am. Permalink.
faemom replied:
Great post. I totally sympathize with the anger. I just felt that the No on Prop 8 could have done more and same with the AZ battle. It felt like they believed it was in the bag, and when it failed, the gay community started protesting churches, and I thought F-ing FINALLY. Those on Yes were passing out pamplets of every company who gave money to the No for a boycott. W
So I’m glad they have righteous anger, but I hope they direct it well.
November 24, 2008 at 6:53 am. Permalink.
vanessaleighsblog replied:
Wow Lindsey. Terrific post, a way to really have your finger on the pulse I think…….
There are many angry feelings, which are totally understandable and justified; heck, I have been angry at not being understood, viewed as an abomination or a freak, etc. Yet, we have love and commitment and our daughter is so awesome and well adjusted…. who’d a thunk it, hmmm?
I have gotten a lot of interesting support for working toward a nonviolent approach to dealing with such oppression and negativity through Soulforce. http://www.soulforce.org is the website. They focus on principles of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ghandi. The problem when we let the anger get the best of us, even when justified, is that we set ourselves back so much. These initiatives do have a lot of backing, for those that want them to go through, and often financial backing that we do not have ourselves within the gay organizations. Arizona was very organized this time around, from having to battle this same issue two years ago. Here in PA, we would have had the same fight if the amendment hadn’t been thrown out a few months ago because the legislature couldn’t come to a consensus about it….
The problem is, we activists get tired as well; we often are the same people working toward this on every campaign…..I am hoping with this new air of involvement in this most recent political process we will get more and more of us, LGBT and allies alike, willing to step up and get involved……
What we need to remember is that violence does us little good, but we can make an impact that is deeply felt in other, nonviolent ways….. there were so many national demonstrations all over the country after Prop 8 went through, which has been the best organized the LGBT community has been in a long time……
We just have to keep saying, NEVER GIVE UP…….
November 24, 2008 at 2:12 pm. Permalink.
Lindsey replied:
zeemanb: hee! Thanks for dropping by.
waltzinexile: I really enjoy surprising people. (And I especially enjoy not being a cowardly bigot!)
Anita: I was so incredibly impressed with the attitudes of people going into the election. Everyone was so upbeat and positive, so happy and non-confrontational. It must have taken an incredible amount of self-discipline to keep such an attitude, knowing what the odds were. Some people just snapped in the aftermath. But- the thing is- things got ugly on both sides, the language got ugly on both sides, and if the No on 8 campaign had won, I’m sure there would be GLBT offices getting egged and stoned and gay couples getting swarmed in the streets.
My husband said it really well: homosexuals have been seeking mainstream acceptance for what, over thirty years? And for thirty years they’ve been getting raped, lynched and murdered. So now, after all that time, they throw a few rocks? And now we’re going to act like THEY are bad and WE are good? Shame on US.
Stephanie: YOU GOT MY BOOK! YAY!
e2c: violence is the worst option. But history shows patterns, and people should study history and not be surprised when those patterns emerge. If people truly prize peace, they should have acted to nip this in the bud, had the hard conversations, and supported gay rights. Intolerance breeds violence. It’s simply a fact.
faemom: I was sad when things took a turn for the evocative, because I knew how that would paint gay people in the eyes of the uber-conservative, but I was also hopeful that more media attention might force people to open their eyes. This is not over yet! At least people are realizing that.
Vanessa: thank you so much for that link! As nasty as the past few weeks have been, I’m really hopeful. People are starting to pay more attention. More awareness can only bring good.
November 24, 2008 at 2:44 pm. Permalink.
e2tc replied:
I have come across at least one post elsewhere (maybe at Salon.com?) where a blogger was saying that they feel very much inclined to hate “black people and Christians” because of the way the voting on Prop. 8 came down.
While I appreciate the candor of the reaction, it’s very upsetting to see – the part about “black people” in particular…
(Comment isn’t meant to be provocative; am just throwing it out on the table for consideration.)
November 24, 2008 at 6:59 pm. Permalink.
bridgeout replied:
Thank you for articulating this! I have to tell you … that last line (or two) really grabs me… poignant! And an excellent daily reminder!!
Look forward to receiving your book!
Wendy
November 24, 2008 at 7:14 pm. Permalink.
e2tc replied:
racialicious roundtable on Prop. 8.
/end threadjack
November 24, 2008 at 7:27 pm. Permalink.
mssc54 replied:
Regarding the (violant) Peace Movement. Bill Ayers bombed buildings in the name of peace. In one instance one individual was killed. Mr. Ayers “got off” on a technicality.
I also understand violance but it is one thing to yell and scream and quite another to harm one human being in the name of your (perceived) “rights”!
Regardless of the cause each individual should be held accountable for their actions.
November 24, 2008 at 10:52 pm. Permalink.
Lindsey replied:
bridgeout: Thank you!
e2c: Your brand of “threadjacking” is welcome any day. Thanks for the links.
mssc54: I never once said that individuals shouldn’t be held accountable, but that the whole group should not be. I, as a Christian, shouldn’t be held accountable for the actions of Fred Phelps. Nor should the entire gay population be told that they have lost their right to speak because of the actions of a handful of people.
November 24, 2008 at 11:14 pm. Permalink.
e2tc replied:
[threadjack]
No offense, M, but Ayers is in no way representative of the vast majority of anti-Vietnam protesters. I never did agree with violent “protests” in this case, and I still don’t.
[/end threadjack]
November 24, 2008 at 11:24 pm. Permalink.
mssc54 replied:
Lindsey, I had to reread my post.
I said each individual should be held accountable. I never said an entire group should be punished.
e2tc, no offense taken since (once again) I didn’t say Ayers was representative of the vast majority of anti-Vietnam protesters.
Sigh.
November 25, 2008 at 1:26 pm. Permalink.
Lindsey replied:
mssc54: I was just clarifying the point of my post, as I NEVER said voilence was OKAY, just that it is predictable and understandable. Whenever a vocal minority is ignored, some members of that minority will turn to violence, and that violence (while inexcusable) is predictable and should not be held as a judgment against the whole people.
Just as race riots don’t mean that all black people are violent, etc.
I’ve seen a lot of posts saying that now we’re seeing what gay people are “really” like, and that sort of talk is despicable.
I feel that by pointing out the actions of one person (which I never said were okay) and saying they should be held accountable (which I never said they shouldn’t) you confused me as to your intent.
To repeat myself for clarity- I never would APPROVE of violence. I am, myself, a pacifist. I simply said that the way things have gone the past few weeks could be predicted, as well as could have been avoided had the ballot measure never been introduced and the decision to approve or disapprove of gay union been left in the hands of the legislature.
November 25, 2008 at 1:33 pm. Permalink.
Ceara replied:
LINDSEY–Great post. Thank you.
C.
November 25, 2008 at 4:47 pm. Permalink.
e2tc replied:
M54, no problem – keyboard-only communication ca be really hard! (I think; I’ve made some big mistakes with it myself.)
See, your opening sentence is what made me think that you were saying that Vietnam protesters were violent. I wasn’t meaning to snap at you, and I’m sorry if my reply came across that way. ‘Twas completely unintentional!
November 25, 2008 at 6:10 pm. Permalink.
truthseeker replied:
Interesting what happened in Lansing MI on Nov 9. Check it out:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111104.html
December 2, 2008 at 12:07 am. Permalink.