Gay Pride W/O - Standing Against HateJun 08 '04 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Hate can exist anywhere that people do not stand up against it For my first 2004 Gay Pride Month W/O entry, I thought some history might be in order before I find some fun stuff to look at here on Epinions. I originally wrote this speech when I was President of the Lyndon State College Gay-Straight alliance (you can visit http://www.angelfire.com/vt/lscgsa for some pictures and more information – the site hasn’t been updated in a long time and some files are missing) for a “Fight The Hate Rally” that we were having in response to the vicious beating and murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. Even though that was in 1998, the same issues and concerns arise today. Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals still face discrimination and violence in their lives. People are still afraid to be who they are in fear of that retribution. I think it’s even more important today to ponder what this hate is and how to fight it. Even though we have all come so far, there is still a fear of discrimination and/or violence that is just completely unacceptable. It doesn’t help that people like our current President foster this atmosphere of distrust and discrimination by supporting something like a federal Constitutional amendment to bar gay marriage – he has for all intents an purposes, given homophobes every reason in the world to continue their discrimination and violence. Even here in Massachusetts, the Governor has resurrected a 1913 law enacted to prevent interracial marriages to block out of state gay marriages. Discrimination is alive and well and its ugly sibling violence is right behind it because they go hand-in-hand. So here you go, the text of the speech I gave at that rally several years ago… Read October 16th, 1998 during the Fight the Hate Rally As President of the Lyndon State College Gay - Straight Alliance for the last four years I have seen many events that have impacted lesbian, gay and bisexual people here on campus. When I first arrived in the fall of 1995, the precursor of the GSA, the Beacon Club was no longer active and awareness of lesbian and gay issues were almost nonexistent. By the end of the 1995-1996 school year, The Beacon Club had been reformed and we were taking part in activities that raised awareness and tolerance of lesbian, gay and bisexual issues. From those humble beginnings of few members, outright homophobia and an almost complete lack of support from anyone, the Gay - Straight Alliance was born out of the fires of those people who cared. While not every year since then has been easier, each year our job has become more important and gained support. In October of 1996, four members of the Beacon Club visited the AIDS Quilt in Washington, D.C., a trip supported and sanctioned by the student government. Even in the approval of this funding the group faced problems. The one question that was asked during the approval was, "do you have AIDS?" The rest of that year was a period of adjustment and reorganization for the Beacon Club. That year culminated in a name change for the club, from The Beacon Club to Lyndon State College Gay - Straight Alliance. This was not just a new name, but a new attitude for the club. In the past, The Beacon Club focused toward providing peer support for lesbian, gay and bisexual students. Outreach to straight allies was minimal and involvement with campus activities was also lacking. With this new name and new philosophy, the Gay - Straight Alliance was ready for a new beginning. This new beginning started during the 1997 - 1998 school year. At the first meeting there were more people attending than at any other meeting before hand. There was finally a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and straight people that were working to improve life for gay people on the LSC campus. Almost immediately this new group began working and raising eyebrows across the campus. The Gay - Straight Alliance mounted a publicity campaign, that for an LSC club was almost unheard of, posters were placed everywhere, earning us the dislike of some, but the admiration of others. We worked closely with the Office of Student Life to secure funding and to help organize events. We hosted two separate student socials in the Student Center to let people know we were there. Twice we had Outright Vermont come to our college and show the film, "It's Elementary," a film that showed how to discuss gay issues in grade schools. After one of these presentations, we held a panel discussion on issues facing gay youth. This panel was composed of students from several Vermont Colleges, High Schools and four members of the Gay - Straight Alliance. Once again we raised eyebrows by selling "blow-pops," using the irony to help advertise our club. The Gay - Straight Alliance also once again restarted "peer support" meetings where gay, lesbian and bisexual people could be together to talk about issues that faced them in a safe and supportive atmosphere. The crowning achievement of last year's efforts came with the Gay - Straight Alliance cosponsoring Drag Ball '98 with C.A.B., The Twilight Players and the Northern Lights Yearbook. We had moved from a club shrouded in shadows and secrecy, to a club that was an active part of the Lyndon State College Community. That energy from the 1997-1998 school year has carried over to this year. With a core group of dedicated members and the largest general membership the club has had ever, the Gay - Straight Alliance has been able to move from an active club, to a pro-active club. This year we have, in less than two months already made our presence felt. Some may say our chalking of a few weeks ago was in poor taste, I say for me to live a society where my identity is scorned and subjugated is in poor taste. For any gay person living on this campus, we are subjected to an overwhelming and all-encompassing amount of heterosexuality. We as gay people very rarely ever receive a positive affirmation of being gay, we struggle to grab onto role models and icons and we hope and pray to see that our very being is acknowledged and accepted. The chalking on October 1st carried out this hope, for a few short hours there was an affirmation of our being and we made the heterosexuals know what it was like to live in our world. We had a goal in mind when we set about chalking the campus and this goal was attained, regardless of the costs that were involved to the members personally or to the club as a whole. As for the rest of this year, it is an open book for us to write upon. The first chapter contains our chalking, something I'm sure will go down in LSC history, the second chapter includes this memorial service and our upcoming concert with Noel and Yolanda on the 17th of October, the rest we will just have to wait and see. But unfortunately the purpose of this letter was not to reminisce about the Gay - Straight Alliance's history. This day is a day of mourning and sadness. Today Matthew Shepard will be laid to rest, a victim of a senseless act of hate. Who here can justify the beating and hanging of a person because they were gay? Though apparently some can, specifically those who will be picketing his funeral and believe it is ok to preach hate and intolerance and also those who have spit and torn down our posters for this event. We must make a stand against this hate, for it can exist anywhere that people do not stand up against it. At almost the same time that Matthew was beaten and killed, the Town Clerk of the local town of Victory who is an openly bisexual woman was the target of another hate crime. She came into the town offices and there on the town bulletin board was a picture of her on a motorcycle with a red dot drawn on her forehead and a red line around her neck with the words "death to queers" written on it. No one can say hate does not exist in our neighborhood, for this act shows that it does. That makes this event and any other events that much more important. Hate can only exist when it is ignored. Standing up to the hate and saying "no" can help to prevent it from ever gaining a foothold. We need people to say that hate crime is not ok, which we will not tolerate these types of actions and we will not allow people to preach and practice hate in our neighborhoods. With that final thought I ask you, members of Lyndon State College and the surrounding communities of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont to stand up to hate, to fight against hate and to never allow an action filled with hate, like the one who killed Matthew Shepard to ever happen again. -- If you are interested in taking part in the 2004 Gay Pride Write-Off, check out Psychovant’s profile for more information on joining the write-off.  |
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