Asterisk

Note: I’m a terrible judge of my own stuff, but something I wrote on a message board as a reaction to another “Obama has a lot on his plate so just be patient” argument got a pretty good reaction, so I’m bringing to the blog. I’ve modified it for clarity and sourcing, and to clean up some mixed metaphors.

The most frustrating part of the fight for LGBT rights is that many people, both inside and outside the community, view it as a grab bag of issues. It isn’t. It’s One Issue with many moving parts, and it really doesn’t matter to me where we succeed first. The work will continue until the One Issue is completed, because in truth the One Issue is more than the sum of its parts.

There’s a reason LGBT people suffer depression and anxiety so much more often than straight people do. There’s a reason we’re twice as likely to suffer PTSD. There’s a reason our youth are three to seven times (depending on environment) more likely to die by suicide.

It’s no coincidence that our statistical 5-10% of the nation’s youth make up 20-40% of all homeless youth, that LGBT homeless youth are 56% more likely to abuse alcohol than straight homeless youth and 76% more likely to have been sexually assaulted.

Solving the One Issue has the side effect of bringing people back from the edge. That’s the real reason the fight is so important. It’s not about me getting married (I won’t) or joining the Marines (it is to laugh). It isn’t about me not getting a job because I’m a fag or being politely turned down for a loan or being turned away from a restaurant or being told my blood is tainted.

It’s about people knowing that they exist, that their lives are real and important, that their government won’t assault them, and that it actually considers them in the same way it considers their parents and siblings and friends. That One Issue is the keystone to all the others.

The U.S. government is, right now, today, harming us with its codified discrimination because people in the majority approve of it. I want that harm to cease, quite selfishly, because I’m one of those people being harmed and I know a lot of other people who are being harmed. And though it irks me to no end, I suppose I shouldn’t think too poorly of people, even those who think they’re our allies, for not wanting it to change badly enough because of their own selfishness.

That doesn’t mean, however, that I’m going to shut up and bow my head until that far off, imaginary, never-to-come day when people in the majority have everything they want and decide it’s okay to finally make the government stop harming people.

No sir.

Hey guys, remember that one sign from Monday’s Indianapolis NOM rally? The one that advocated genocide as a “solution” to gay marriage?

The attention to detail on those nooses is almost impressive.

(Photo by Alice Hoenigman for Bilerico.)

And remember the interview Arisha Hatch of Courage Campaign‘s NOMTour Tracker got with Larry Adams, the man who made that sign?

You know what I wonder?

I wonder why those three people, including at least one NOM staffer (popped collar guy), who interrupted the interview to tell Larry not to talk to Arisha didn’t just look her in the eye and tell her that Larry’s pro-genocide stance is wrong.

Doesn’t that seem weird to you?

I’m left with the logical conclusion that they didn’t have a problem with what he was saying; they just didn’t want him to say it on camera. They know that having that kind of hate on film reveals NOM’s true goal more honestly than most people would find acceptable.

(In the days since the Indianapolis rally, NOM accounts of the day have carefully steered clear of Larry Adams and his sign, even as outside groups have called for NOM to repudiate the message of genocide.)

By the way, my case is only strengthened when you consider NOM’s reaction to calls for genocide on their facebook page last month. When confronted with people openly advocating the mass murder of gays, they just said “bite your tongue” instead of telling the offending supporters to take a hike.

Make no mistake, Larry’s sign tells what NOM is all about: Making gay people disappear from society, even if it means killing us. The proof is starting to mount up. The only question is how long it’ll take for people to understand that.

Almost nine months ago, John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay of AMERICAblog initiated their “Don’t Ask Don’t Give” campaign, asking LGBT people to stop funding Democratic party campaigns until they actually make a concerted effort to keep their promises. I finally found a chance to join the cause last week when I received a fundraising email signed by Brad Woodhouse, Communications Director of the DNC. Below is my response to his donation request.

Mr. Woodhouse,

In response to your request for a small donation, I must unfortunately reiterate what so many others have said in the last few months. The Democratic party will not see one penny from my pocket until and unless substantial gains are made in the field of LGBT rights.

In 2008, the LGBT community helped give you the White House, the House of Representatives, and a super-majority in the Senate. What we’ve discovered is that there is little difference between a Democratic-led government and the Republican-led government of five years ago. Instead of taking a clear and decisive pro-civil rights stance, you thanked us by running the other way and choosing ***anything*** but LGBT civil rights.

• You punted repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, with a compromise that doesn’t actually repeal anything, has yet to be voted on in the Senate or signed by the President, and reportedly is being considered for veto by President Obama.
• You’ve put off the Employment Non-Discrimination Act until it’s logistically unlikely this year, with Speaker Pelosi characterizing the bill as “controversial” rather than rallying Democrats around this clear issue of civil rights.
• Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act isn’t even being considered, no matter how many times President Obama says he’s “urged” Congress to do so.
• Ending the discriminatory anti-gay blood donation ban has been discussed and rejected with no real push from the DNC to follow the science and penalize risky sex rather than responsible gay men in monogamous relationships for thirty years.
• Bids to institute state-wide marriage equality have failed in part because of the lack of leadership and funding from the DNC, most notably in Maine last year.
• Even a bill to offer safety to all school children has failed to find congressional footing because members of Congress get squeamish at the bill’s specific mention of LGBT kids who are many times more likely to be bullied, depressed, isolated, and suicidal than their straight peers.

So no. You will not get my money, you will not get my time, you will not get my voice, and you will not get my vote until you show me that you consider my rights as important as yours.

Candidates who have shown leadership for these completely reasonable LGBT demands retain my support and vote, but until I see substantial leadership and not excuses from the national party, my response remains the same:

NOT. ONE. CENT.

Cordially,

Matthew D. Algren

For far too long, Democrats have viewed LGBT people as nothing more than a committed source of funding and a reliable voting bloc. It’s time to teach them that we’re more than that.

Take the pledge.

Here’s why.

By now you’ve probably heard of the couple in the southeastern African country of Malawi sentenced last week to 14 years in prison with hard labor, the maximum sentence, for “unnatural acts and gross indecency.” Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were symbolically wed December 28, 2009 and were arrested shortly thereafter. Chimbalanga has been ill for much of the time that the two have been incarcerated (separately), but has so far been refused medical treatment.

Neither is expected to survive prison.

Many western nations, including the United States and England, have officially condemned the conviction, and Amnesty International has called for the couple’s release. As far as I have heard, no one expects that to happen.

Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga arrested earlier this year.

After reading of this monstrous blight on the history of the humankind, I wondered what response the National Organization for Marriage, the ranking anti-marriage group in the United States, would have. Though NOM doesn’t seem to have officially responded to the Malawi conviction, a link to the story did appear on the group’s Facebook page.

Click for full screencap in context

Marcela Lazarte Rodriguez: I just found this in MSN and I thinkis (sic) great what the judge did in Malawi. Zero tolearnce (sic) to this behavior is perfect.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37248649/ns/world_news-africa?GT1=43001

(sick)

Shelah Bumgarner Wik: I commend the judge for his strength ! God please protect him and others in this country,who are trying to enforce Gods laws.

Click for live Facebook thread

Michael Thorpe: Malawi sounds like a good place to move to.

I hasten to reiterate that this is not an official NOM stance. I would point out, however, that the NOM group’s administrator regularly deletes comments that disagree with NOM’s general principles, including some comments in the quoted thread. Also, remember that NOM has, according to him, given the page’s administrator the responsibility of promoting NOM’s point of view online.

He has chosen not to delete the comments above. They are now over four days old. And he didn’t just not delete “Attaboys” for the imprisonment of gays, he was present and joking around in that very thread. (Click here for a full page shot of all comments.)

I don’t know what NOM’s leaders think of imprisoning gay people. But thanks to this exchange in a NOM-operated forum, I have a pretty good idea what their supporters think.

Last November, Puerto Ricans and the LGBT community at large were horrified when the body of 19-year-old Jorge Steven López Mercado was found burned, beheaded, and dismembered on the side of a road near his home. The killer, Juan Antonio Martínez Matos, was arrested five days later and quickly enhanced his confession with a Trans Panic Defense.

Jorge Steven López Mercado
1990 - 2009

Last week, exactly six months after brutally murdering Steven, Martínez unexpectedly pleaded guilty in a court hearing just days before his trial was to begin.

Edge‘s Michael Lavers filed this report.

Juan José Martínez Matos, who had been scheduled to go on trial for Jorge Steven López Mercado’s death on Monday, May 17, confessed to the crime during a hearing in Caguas on Wednesday, May 12.

Martínez told the court he understood the consequences of his actions, and Judge Miriam Camila Jusino immediately sentenced him to 99 years in prison.

Primera Hora reported López’s parents, Myriam Mercado and Jorge López, hugged prosecutor Yaritza Carrasquillo after the hearing. Mercado told the newspaper, however, Martínez’s confession was bittersweet for her and her family.

“We are able to find a bit of peace in this aspect, but it still not going to return Steven,” she said. “But at least there is justice in Puerto Rico.”

Jorge López evoked his faith.

“I want to send a message to Juan (Casper) and tell him there is hope in Christ,” said López with tears in his eyes. “The Lord has forgiveness for him, [regardless] of what has happened. God has a plan for him if he opens his heart to Christ. God will forgive him also.”

Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Lesbian & Gay Task Force, who was in Caguas when Martínez confessed to López’s murder, told EDGE there was not a dry eye in the courtroom. He added López’s family remains a source of inspiration for him and other LGBT Puerto Ricans.

“The family is sending a powerful message to the world of the love that conquers hate,” said Serrano.

He further stressed his work on behalf of LGBT Puerto Ricans will continue.

“It was very emotional and it brings some closure, but those wounds will never heal,” added Serrano as he further described Martínez’s confession. “And we just have to work to ensure this does not happen again.”

Please continue to keep Steven’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. This may have put a merciful end to the court case against his killer, but they will continue to feel his loss for years to come.