Queer persons are one of the last remaining groups of people that it is socially acceptable to discriminate against. We our your brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, and most importantly we our human. We are not amoral, and we are not depraved.
Heteronormative society has a profound need to see who Queer persons are, who are our heroes are our, who are martyrs are, who are saints are, heteronormative society needs to see the positive force of change that Queer History and Culture has on society. It is not about shoving homosexuality down heteronormative societies throats it is about showing them that we are human.
Shortly after Harvey Milk was elected to city supervisor in San Francisco, California some twenty years ago he recorded his last words. To paraphrase he said if a bullet is to every enter my brain let it shatter every closet door. Why is it important to shatter every closet door? It is the only way heteronormative society will see queer persons as human.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbWDNM0wuAc
The above link is to Harvey Milk's "Gotta Give Them Hope" listen to his words, listen with an open heart, and you will see why shattering the closet doors is important. The longer these closet door remain the longer silence will equal death.
How many of you are familiar you with the "twinkie defence" it is the very strategy that allowed Dan White to get away with murder. The "twinkie defence" boiled down to that Dan White was not responsible for his actions because he indulged on too much junk food, and it had an averse affect on his ability to know right from wrong.
After the verdict was announced it was one of the few times in modern history that queer people resulted to violence. The events that followed are now know as the White Night Riots. Shortly after the verdict was announced a television reporter interviewed an elderly woman and asked her about the verdict. To paraphrase she said I am a little old lady, and I do not have much time left on this world, but I do not want to be alive when he gets out. The reporter asked why? Because he committed two murders and he got an 8 year sentence. Dan White only served 5 years of that sentence.
The Stonewall Riots one of the few times in Queer History where we said enough is enough we can't go on. The patrons of Stonewall took to the streets in violence. They were tired of a second class status. They were tired of having their lives raided and ruined because of who they loved. The Stonewall Inn is the only Queer Landmark on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Allan Touring a queer man who was a genius. He created some of the fundamental theories that computer science is based upon. His work during World War II decoding the Enigma Machine used by Nazi Germany helped to ensure an Ally Victory. How was he repaid by the British Government. He was chemically castrated and he later committed suicide. Why was he chemically castrated? Because he loved men rather than women.
Bayard Rustin played a huge part in the Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s, but will he ever have his right place in history. He was pushed to the background because he was a queer man. They used his ideas, but he could not be acknowledged more for his role because he was queer.
Think how radically different the world we live in would be if Ronald Reagan acknowledged the AIDS crisis when it started, funded it properly, and fought it with aggression. But, that was not how history played out his lack of action killed millions, but he is hailed as an American Hero and one of the best presidents of the 20th Century.
You may not be homophobic yourself, but the longer you stay silent the longer you stamp your approval on homophobia.
How many Matthew Shepard's do we have to have, how many Harvey Milk's do we have to have, how many Allan Touring's do we have too have, how many more people have to die of AIDS, how many Bayard Ruston's do we have to have, how many Larry Kings, how many more bar raids, how many you queers coming of age have to be bullied, how many is acceptable?
"I have a lot of gay friends, but I do not condone their lifestyle."
Then I suggest these people do not really know their queer friends. Have you ever had a discussion with your "token" gay friends about this phrase. This is a thin veil disguised to hide homophobia.
