PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Say YES to S.B. 608 & 609
by branden dudek Friday, Jun. 20, 2003 at 2:10 AM
branden@cease.info (email address validated) 412-361-3022

The stonewall rebellion in 1969 is heralded as the birthplace of gay activism, but are gay activists really following in its tradition?

The stonewall rebellion in 1969 is heralded as the birthplace of gay activism, but are gay activists really following in its tradition?

The gay activist movement was sparked by a rebellion between NYC morality police and the Stonewall Inn's patrons, who were mostly poor, mostly trans, and mostly people of color. It seems like conservative gay activists who are "just like everyone else" have co-opted and privatized the queer rebellion that took place on that humid summer night.

Recently, Rita Addessa, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Lesbian and Gay Task Force (PLGTF) has come under fire by local gay activists, notably Billy Hileman, editor of Planet Q, for the inclusion of "class" in two new bills (S.B. 608 & 609), which could amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) and the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act, respectively. These bills aim to add protections for "sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression" as well as "class".

In a recent letter to Addessa, Senator Kukovich informed her that he will not sponsor the bill and went so far as to call it divisive and implied that with the current language it has no chance of passing in the state legislature. Kukovich noted that he would sponsor similar bills (S.B 706 & 707) introduced by Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition (SPARC) that do not include "class" as a protected status. Most gay activists seem to be more interested in protecting a small sliver of society while leaving discrimination of people based on class, as well as many other categories, wide open to all people, including gays. Shortly after the Stonewall uprising New York City had its first gay pride assembly. Gay people booed transgendered speakers off of the stage, like Sylvia Rivera who was one of the transgendered warriors who participated in the Stonewall riots. It seems like privilege and majority rules even in gay society. Even so, the gay movement has been repeatedly excluded from progressive movements. During the feminist movement in the 1970s NOW leaders told lesbians that they would hinder the movement's progress and went so far as to label them the "lavender menace". Queers have also been squelched in past anti-war efforts and asked to leave issues of gender and sexuality in the closet, and there is a laundry list of occurrences where GLBTQ people were asked to stay out of parades, assemblies, and marches.

The gay interest group's amnesia seems to be a symptom of capitalism, classism, and assimilation. It may be that 34 years is enough time to forget our own oppression by other movements. It may be that assimilation means accepting society's apathy when it comes to other human beings. Regardless of its motives, the gay movement has been boiled down to a slight altering of the heterosexual norm. Rather than tearing down the socially constructed gender and sexual norms, gays have managed to add one more word to the definition of ?normal?.

Why are gays trying to add all of these definitions to anti-discrimination when we need a bill that simply bans discrimination of all kinds? Why are gays lobbying for same-sex partner benefits when we need national health care for all people? Why are gays lobbying for inheritance rights when so many people are homeless? Why are gays lobbying for IRA and other financial benefits when so many people are hurt by the capitalistic society we live in? Why are gays lobbying for the right to be in the military when we should dismantle the system that allows innocent people to be murdered? Why do gays lobby for the death penalty against hate crime offenders when killing people is never the answer?

The answer is simple. The gay rights movement has become a homogenous and monolithic structure that is defined within the boundaries of the very system stonewall rebels were defending themselves against. Laws cannot protect us when police, the same ones who beat and kill so many people, are the ones who enforce them.

It is imperative to liberty that progressive activists work in solidarity to end all oppression. A tremendous synergy could evolve if all groups transcended their boundaries and included all people in their struggle toward liberty. In the words of Clarence Darrow, "You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free."

www.thomasmertoncenter.org/RESYST

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