Montana State Senator Christine Kaufmann on creating change NOW!
THE DAY OF SILENCE, Helena High School Gay Straight Alliance, Helena, Montana
On the National Day of Silence hundreds of thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools. Members of the Helena High School Gay-Straight Alliance in Helena, Montana recognize those who deserve to be heard but are silenced out of fear for safety and harassment.
The Day of Silence is over, now what?
Send Truth in Progress your links to what you are doing in your high school. What do you do when you see a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person being harassed? It's not always easy to know what to do in the moment. What's it like to be the target of anti-gay slurs? How have you gotten through it? Wherever you live, let us hear from you. Put the silence aside, it's time to hear YOUR VOICE!
What Helena High GSA students had to say about their experience of the Day of Silence:
"It was touching to see so many people wearing red and silently advocating for LGBT rights. It felt wonderful to show people that we are here and we will support the gay community at Helena High."
"It was extremely difficult to remain silent for the whole day, but I felt surprisingly accepted and appreciated. Most people were understanding and were in accordance with the movement. If they weren't, I didn't know for no one spoke out against my actions."
"I didn't speak and it was hard. And I ended up cheating. One kid told me that gay equals stupid when I was putting my books in my locker. Some people were accepting, but I felt somewhat laid bare. Not speaking while using a notepad seemed ineffective; next time I won't use a notepad or will speak."
"I had a lot of people ask what it was for and why I was participating. It was difficult but I enjoyed the challenge. Some people also made fun of the cause openly to me which was upsetting."
"Day of Silence went so-so. Most people were extremely curious as to why I was not speaking, and I only had one example of being put down for doing it. Once I explained (the next day) why I kept silent many people supported my point of view. Overall it was very encouraging."
"I did speak but I wore red the whole day. A lot of my friends did it, and it was surprising how a lot of people were encouraging my friends. I also heard people saying bad things, but in general everybody accepted it."
"I thought that we received more respect this year during Day of Silence than the past few years. I saw a few people who obviously disapproved, but I did not directly receive rude comments. It was an interesting experience."
"I thought it was effective because students around the school that were not aware of gay straight alliance found out the importance while witnessing numerous students fight back words for the whole day."
"It definitely helped raise awareness about GSA and raised attention to the discrimination of gays."
Video blog: Talking with Sung Won Park at Creating Change
Sung Won Park, Director of Community Engagement and Advancement, Intersections, and Program Director, Believe Out Loud, New York, NY
Video blog: rally to restore sanity and/or fear
Happy New Year!
We've come through the election season, the end of the legislative year and with it the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and now we're into another chapter sure to include struggle but also new landmarks of change. In a final salute to 2010, here are images from the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear held in D.C. at the end of October. We can always use a good laugh.
(Please note: all video and pictures are the work of Marilyn, not to be misconstrued as the work of a professional.)
SLIDESHOW OVERVIEW WITH CAROLYN STRAUB
NIGHT BEFORE THE RALLY: SCOPING THINGS OUT, PEOPLE FROM EVERYWHERE
STEPHEN from San Diego, CA, talks about why he's come to D.C. for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear! How do we talk about issues we disagree on?
FANTASTIC INTERVIEW WITH "SCARY MUSLIM"
Insanity took over the audio so I have video of an amazing interview with a Muslim man talking about the anti-Muslim climate in America but without any sound. He said his name and town in the film, but I didn't write it down. Soooo, if you are the Scary Muslim man, would you email us please?! truthinprogress@gmail.com
RALLY SIGNS
I didn't get a picture of my favorite sign, "It appears we disagree. Would you like some pie?"
ZIPPY RECAP
You tell us: request for video from youth
We want to hear from middle and high school age youth:
We have a special request for you; please send us video links/clips of what you have to say about bullying or being queer or being queer and a person of color, or growing up in a gay family, or whatever it is you want to talk about. We will post them on Truth in Progress and/or list your link. We want to hear YOUR voices! Contact us at truthinprogress@gmail.com, facebook or with a comment below.
Long-awaited video from Birmingham and Selma
Two of my favorite moments in Alabama are captured in the video clips below. One is of riding with the Rainbow Ramblers in the Central Alabama Pride Parade. I walked through the parade until I found the motorcycle group, and Jodi was nice enough to give me a ride to the end of the parade. I stood out in my pink top and on the booster seat, but it sure was fun.
The second clip is one of Gil in Selma. We were filming by the James Reeb memorial. After we finished Gil went down the street to talk to some people outside of a barber shop. He came back with emotion in his eyes and voice from the thanks he received from them for being a part of the marches there and what he did to further civil rights.
The Patriotism of Don’ts
Gil and I have been honored to talk with several gay and lesbian soldiers about their dedication to our country's ideals of freedom and justice, even in the face of a government that denies them that same freedom and justice. While McCain leads his troops in filibustering, our LGBT soldiers and veterans face the reality of careers and pensions lost, character assassination, and disillusionment with our country's facade of inviolable rights. Here are three stories of life in and out of the military, across generations, before and during Don't Ask, Don't Tell. They are not stories of victimization but ones of self dignity and inevitable triumph. Our government will repeal this law, and as Gil likes to quote King, "Segregation is dead. It's just a matter of how long some want to make the funeral."
Rev. Tommie Watkins of Birmingham, AL, kicked out of the Naval Academy in Annapolis for trumped up charges of harassment and consequently told to pay his school bill of $90,000 because he had "left" the academy. Tommie fought back and won a lawsuit that ruled that he did not have to pay, but in the process lost his career as minister in the AME church.
Annie Tavary, of Helena, MT, Gulf War veteran not allowed to reenlist because a doctor had written on her medical records that Annie was lesbian, talks about why she wants to serve, the cost of the denial for her to reenlist, yet her grounding in self-worth and greater ideals.
Libertee Belle, Birmingham, AL, drag performer talks of her time in the Navy prior to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, while witch hunts were still prevalent.
We met up with Libertee just as she was preparing to perform at the Central Alabama Pridefest. She had one set of eyelashes on, one off; laughing at her lopsidedness, she agreed to be interviewed. We waited until after the show and in the intense humid heat, until she could get out of her dress and heels. As we walked to the interview spot on some kind of old giant mow-down machine, young people greeted Libertee Belle, asked for autographs, and smiled and waved. She said that drag had changed, saying that now all the young queens wanted to be perfectly coifed and lip sync in dramatic silence, while she decided that she would be an "old" queen in bad drag and sing off-key. People would come back to hear her just to see if her voice had gotten any better. She won me over by her humor and incisive intelligence.
Gil's words on this week's action of the Senate:
Langston Hughes, the African American poet writes of what happens when the dreams of freedom and justice and equality for black persons are deferred. What happens to the spirits, psyches and spiritual well being of gay persons (and those who oppose justice for them) when the dream of equality is deferred? The action of the Senate on DADT prompted this:
"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore -- and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over -- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?"
What happens to a person and a people and a nation when justice is deferred? I contend that today's anger, bitterness and hatred in the body politic and within the church, despite the positive changes in racial and gender justice, we have changed without changing. And therefore, we are living with unresolved issues that plague us at so many points in our "Life Together". (Bonhoeffer)
READERS: Share your answer in comment section. What happens when justice is deferred?
