Friday December 29, 2006 SGN.org |
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Volume 34 Issue 52 |
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Monday, Oct 13, 2008
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Lesbian Notions by Libby Post |
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| Resolve to take action | ||
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Well, it's 2007, but many of us will probably be dating our checks 2006 for weeks to come. Old habits - 365 days worth - die hard, but soon the 2007 mental pathway will be established, and our dating habits (the written ones, anyway) will be corrected. Looking back, 2006 was quite a year. LOGO, the Gay cable network, and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association came up with their top 10 stories. It's an interesting but not too surprising list, including everything from Outgames/Gay Games to Soulforce's Equality Ride to Oscar coming out on Brokeback Mountain to Ted Haggard falling on his face (let alone from grace) to Mark Foley's page folly to the Dems bringing democracy back to Capitol Hill. I'm not about to rehash and recap - you can go to LOGOonline.com and watch the four-part series complete with music, graphics, and Jason Bellini as anchor. My thoughts are on our future - what 2007 has in store for the community and for me, and even better, what we have in store for 2007. Personally, once the cast comes off my ruptured right bicep tendon (when you're almost 49, playing with the dog can be dangerous), I plan to segue physical therapy into future trips the gym. I'm one of those dykes who can put on weight just by thinking about it, and as I start my ascent to 50 I really want to try and get back into some sort of shape. If any of you girls (or guys) have suggestions or secrets to share, just let me know. I'm open. Also, 2007 gives me the opportunity to tell my partner, Lynn, how much she means to me. Let your partner know how you feel, too - how important they are to you, how dreary your life would be without them, how much you love them. The new year also gives all of us the opportunity to let our family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues know how much our partners mean to us. I'm not talking about being all mushy all the time at work or at family gatherings. I am talking about being clear about your life, who you live with, how you identify. If there was ever a year to come out and build on our achievements, this is it. The more that people know us and feel connected with us, the more likely they are to stand beside us as allies and fight for our rights. It's all about building relationships and normalizing straight people's perceptions of who we are. With a new Congress (let's all pray for Sen. Tim Johnson's [D-S.D.] full recovery), and the president's final two years in a death spiral, the ability for the LGBT community to make real change is within our reach. If a Lesbian can get elected to the Alabama State House, anything is possible - if we put our minds to it. This is the year we could overturn "don't ask, don't tell." It's the year we could get the federal nondiscrimination act and inclusive hate-crimes legislation passed. It's the year we could see our national organizations working in tandem on the issues that concern us the most. It's the year we could see real progress on our issues. But for all of that to happen this year, next year, or beyond, we, as a community, have to support the organizations that represent us. That support could be a check to your local community center and/or to your statewide organization and/or to the national organization of choice. If we are to move forward in 2007, we must put LGBT human and financial capital to work. This is also the year for us to point out the lies of the radical Christian right and hold them accountable for their words. After Mary Cheney announced in early December that she was pregnant, Time magazine asked Focus on the Family's James Dobson to write an opinion piece. In his usual homophobic, anti-Gay-family way, Dobson - like other radical Christians - chastised Mary for bringing a child into the world without a dad. To back up his arguments, he cited the academic work of feminist scholar Carol Gilligan and Yale School of Medicine's Kyle Pruett, M.D. Instead of just dismissing Dobson's rantings as those of a rattled homophobe, Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out contacted both scholars and asked them to repudiate this use of their work. They did. Time's embarrasment led the mag's editors to ask Jennifer Chrisler of Family Pride to write a response. Her piece debunked Dobson's dithering about how a kid needs a mommy and daddy more than she or he needs love. Besen plans to keep the heat on Dobson and others like him with his new website, www.dobsonlies.org. Join Besen, and kick off 2007 with some action - write Time's editor, Patrick Smith (patrick_smith@timemagazine.com), and tell him that if his magazine is going to let the right rant, it also has to make them prove their points with facts, not rely on the pseudo-fiction they've been parading behind. After that, tell your honey you love her or him, tell your neighbor you're Gay, write a check, and don't ever forget how important you are in the next 365 days. Libby Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and a political commentator on public radio, on the Web, and in print media. She can be reached care of this publication or at LesbianNotions@qsyndicate.com. |
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