Asterisk

Saturday in San Fransisco, Twin Peaks was transformed with the Pink Triangle in an annual remembrance for the gay victims of the Nazi Holocaust. While Jews were the Nazis’ major target, other groups felt their wrath as well. Paragraph 175 of the German Penal code outlawed homosexuality and explicitly permitted the removal of civil rights. From the Pink Triangle’s official website:

Triangles of various colors were used to identify each category of “undesirable”: yellow for Jews, brown of Gypsies, red for political prisoners, green for criminals, black for anti-socials, purple for Jehovah’s Witnesses, blue for immigrants, and pink for homosexuals.

The pink triangles were slightly larger than the other colored triangles so that guards could identify them from a distance. It is said that those who wore the pink triangles were singled out by the guards to receive the harshest treatment, and when the guards were finished with them, some of the other inmates would harm them as well.

At the end of the war, when the concentration camps were finally liberated, virtually all of the prisoners were released except those who wore the pink triangle. Many of those with a pink triangle on their pocket were put back in prison and their nightmare continued.

1Lt. Dan Choi was asked to speak at this year’s ceremony in honor of the 100,000 victims of the pink triangle and the approximately 11,000 who were killed by the Nazis.

Lt. Choi will stand before his discharge board this Tuesday and will probably be fired from the military. His only crime is that of the pink triangle.

After several weeks of calls for boycott following the Obama administration’s failure to attend to any of his campaign promises, the 10th annual LGBT Leadership Council fundraiser for the DNC went on as planned last night. The event, with Vice President Joe Biden as the main attraction, was boycotted by at least 13 prominent members of the community, as well as the Stonewall Democrats and former DNC chair Howard Dean.

And yet, the DNC reportedly raised nearly a million dollars, at least 30% more than last year’s pre-election event. From Advocate.com:

Despite the controversy, about 180 people showed up to hear Vice President Joe Biden speak for a price tag of $1,000 to $30,400 per plate. The event brought in nearly $1 million, up from about $750,000 last year, according to a Democratic Party source.

When Vice President Joe Biden took the stage, he told the crowd that he had specifically asked to speak at the event and that his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, had also requested to address a Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network event earlier this month.

“I am not unaware of the controversies swirling around this dinner,” Biden said, “swirling around the speed — or lack thereof — that we’re moving on issues that are of great importance to you and, quite frankly, to me and to the President and to millions of Americans.”

The Vice President’s words are nice, but as we’ve learned over the last six months, they signify no real change in policy.

By donating a record amount, even amidst the outcry from the LGBT community, even while protesters from SLDN drew attention to President Obama’s refusal to halt the firing of servicemembers such as Maj. Margaret Witt, Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, and 1Lt. Dan Choi, even after White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said yesterday morning that President Obama would continue to ruin the lives, careers, and futures of these honorable, dedicated servicemembers, even as it becomes clear that the Matthew Shepard Act will be DOA if it even makes it to the president’s desk, these donors have made a statement.

Their statement is this: They don’t care. Their access to and hobnobbing with well-heeled Washington insiders is more important to them than pesky rank-and-file members of the community who just want to stop being abused.

Understand the damage done last night. Every advance we’ve made over the last few weeks since the Obama Justice Department released its shameful DOMA brief, is now gone. The Democratic party knows, and President Obama knows, that we don’t control the community’s purse strings. Our supposed social betters do that for us, and they’ll keep the money flowing no matter what President Obama and Congress do.

So. Where do we go from here?

It’s been a month since David Mixner proposed a March on Washington for October 10-11, 2009 and this does nothing but solidify my support of the idea. Our job now is to show both our national leaders and the A-list LGBTs that our voices are louder than their money. Our goal is nothing short of full and total equality. Our duty is to secure a better future for our children.

Our time is now.

We’re only a few days from celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, long recognized as the beginning of the modern LGBT movement. As preparation, please consider watching the 1984 documentary Before Stonewall. From the film’s page on Netflix:

Life was very different before the 1969 Stonewall riots put the issue of gay rights front and center in America. Using archival films and interviews with gays and lesbians who were forced to hide their sexuality for fear of reprisals, this documentary by Robert Rosenberg, Greta Schiller and John Scagliotti sheds light on American gay life from the 1920s to the 1960s and the sociopolitical climate that finally led to profound change.

It’s quite interesting to watch a 25 year old documentary. On one level, I’m struck by how bold these people, many now dead, were in the 1920s and even during World War II. On another, I’m surprised at how far we’ve come just since the film was shot and in awe at the groundwork that was laid by our foremothers and forefathers.

Before Stonewall is currently available to rent or watch online in its entirety at Netflix. Take 90 minutes and be surprised at the rich history you never knew.

Last night I opened up my email and found that two prominent opponents of the oppression of LGBT people in Christian churches have made some staffing changes.

First, Soulforce added Carol Boltz, former wife of Christian music icon Ray Boltz, to the Soulforce Board of Directors. Since Ray announced his coming out last year (she’d known since late 2004), Carol has been unbelievably supportive as she and her family reevaluated their beliefs. As her bio on the Soulforce website says:

As a mother of four grown children, and a grandmother to two, Carol was married for over 30 years until her husband, Ray, came out as gay. Their fundamentalist Christian background was shaken to realize that being gay was not a choice, and Carol had to reevaluate the core of her beliefs. She describes this as both a heartbreaking and growing life change, and one that has led her to a very different path. Rather than distance herself from the issues involved, Carol has become an advocate of both straight spouses as well as the GLBTQ communities.

Soulforce advocates “freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance.” Carol Boltz also announced her new position has her own blog.

At the same time, Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) has announced via email some staff changes. RMN, for the uninitiated, is “a national network of United Methodist-focused organizations advocating for the full inclusion of persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities into the life of the Church.”

After sixteen years of ministry affirming that “Reconciling is the radical notion that gay people want to go to church” Sue Laurie officially retires from her staff role with RMN on September 7 at the Justice and Joy convocation. In her past eight years as outreach staff, she has faithfully spread the Good News that all are welcome at God’s table.

Carl Davis joins Reconciling Ministries Network after having spent the last seven years pastoring United Methodist congregations in the North Indiana Conference. Prior to that Carl was a Captain in The Salvation Army, where he served as the Executive Director for The Salvation Army in Miami County, Indiana, and as the Assistant Director of The Salvation Army in Columbia, Missouri.

(I’m not sure how long that link will be active, so here’s a screen shot.)

If you’ve been around this blog from the beginning, you may remember Sue Laurie as the author of a fantastic letter in reaction to the nightmare that was General Conference 2008. Her passion will certainly be missed.

There are also two open positions at RMN. You can check out the job descriptions and requirements for an Associate Executive Director and an Administrative and Donor Relations Associate at the link. If I lived in Chicago, I’d be fighting you for the second one.

On last night’s broadcast, Rachel Maddow welcomed back to the show Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, an 18-year veteran in the US Air Force, highly decorated and recognized for his skill as an aviator. Fehrenbach is being fired less than two years before retirement because he’s gay.

As Fehrenbach noted, he will be attending the controversial Stonewall Anniversary party next Monday at the White House as a guest of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Let’s hope he gets a chance to personally talk some sense into President Obama.