Here I will highlight a few great posts from 2008. There are times, though I fear not many, when it is good to reflect. This is one of them! Feel free to share your favorite posts in the comments.
January: One of great lesbian comedians of our time! I got a chance to interview Julie Goldman.
February: Lori Hahn takes on her sexual discovery in Shades of Grey
March: Sinclair takes her stab at the definition of sexy in Consent is Sexy
April: Elle does her best to explain bisexuality to a bunch of lesbians in I am BI and I am not confused. So What?
May: Sandra shares one of her amazing and well written stories in Butterfly Belly
June: BADSEED discussed her penchant for straight women in Why Straight Women are my Choice of Caviar
July: JulieB talks about what it’s like being a Midwestern lesbian in An Unlikely Midwest Lesbian
August: Pat Cheny makes us take a look at growing up lesbian in Till Death Do Us Part: Long Term Care for Lesbian Partners
September: I attempt to take on Lesbians and porn in the aptly titled Lesbians and Porn
October: FrancesM discusses a hot topic this year in California (Equality) Dreamin’
November: sugar_baby asks us to define our sexuality in “Blog Something” she said
December: A guest post sturs up some interesting comment in Reflections on Violence

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Today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette features a strong statement from State Senator Jim Ferlo on plans to expand Pennsylvania's Hate Crimes law to include additional protected classes, including ancestry, disability, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity.  These were part of a 2002 amendment which was recently overturned on procedural grounds. 
Today's Post-Gazette features a strong statement from State Senator Jim Ferlo on plans to expand Pennsylvania's Hate Crimes law to include additional protected classes, including ancestry, disability, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity.  These were part of a 2002 amendment which was recently overturned on procedural grounds. 
A hate crime makes certain crimes more serious when their motivation is based on .. well, hate toward a class of people. In Pennsylvania, those crimes include harassment, assault, murder, trespass, criminal mischief and arson.
If you burn down someone's house because they are Latino or Jewish, there is an understanding that the violence is much deeper than the arson itself. 
“Hate crimes,” Mr. Ferlo said, “can often be far more violent than typical crimes and attempt to dehumanize victims. By grading these offenses more strictly, I hope we can further discourage crimes based on hate as we continue to grow into a more open and accepting society.”
Being targeted because you fit into a certain class of people sucks, period.  It sucks whether it is being the target of verbal taunts or assault.  Anyone who has been on the receiving end of said motivated attacks can attest to what I'm saying.
There has been opposition to expanding the protected classes because of the inclusion of the LGBTQ community as a protected class.  I guess some folks think its okay to kill a woman because she is a lesbian, but not because she is Jewish.  Hmmm.  OK, I'm exaggerating for the sake of my argument because there really are some people who fail to see that the underlying motivation of a crime can increase their impact on society.  Any murder is an assault on the entire community.  A murder motivated by group hate sends an especially chilling message to that particular strata in the community, but please don't forget that it has an impact on all of us. 
Let's be clear.  The wing-nuts in Pennsylvania don't want to acknowledge the LGBTQ community in any way, shape or form. They want unfettered access to pray away the gay even when their freedom to express their religious beliefs interferes with my freedom to, well, exist.  Hence, their cries of foul over the 2002 legislation drag out every possible tired excuse about impinging on their religious and speech freedoms. They have been working overtime to spread misleading messages about this legislation, including claims that it will create “thought” crimes.  The mislogic goes that hate is a thought, not an action.  Punishing someone for a thought is unconstitutional. 
Well, that's bullshit.  The violence perpetrated under Jim Crow could not be reduced to the loss of the individual life of the man hanging from the tree.  Lynching was an intentional act, intentional in the sense of sending a very clear message to others in that class of people about the societal expectations of the dominant culture.  The psychological damage was deliberative and reverberated far beyond the lives of the family members who lost their loved one. 
That's hate.  Pure, unadulterated hate.  It doesn't make it any less so when other groups that are outside of the dominant culture are targeted simply for the “crime” of existing.  Expanding the law to include more groups goes a long way to countering that message, reminding the entire community that we are all valued and should not be singled out based on some characteristic.  The claim that the current law is good enough is patently untrue for we already factor in motivation when measuring charges … the law recognizes that murder committed by accident is different than a deliberately planned out murder, even if both actions result in the loss of life.  
Still, I am very conscious that there is an important distinction between expressing your opinions a la Diane Gramley in a lawful manner and deliberately harassing people.  This is a distinction that we count upon our law enforcement officers and the courts to uphold.  Frankly, I have some expectation that Ms. Gramley will uphold that distinction, too.  I despise her message and her tactics.  I do believe that she is culpable for sowing the seeds of intolerance toward gay people that leads to acts of hatred … see thoughts do lead to actions …yet, I am still willing to acknowledge her right to devote her entire life to her twisted little mission.  Just don't infringe on my rights.  She sends her minions into Allegheny County to stir up opposition to gay rights.  That's not a crime. And it is an action we can resist, fighting fire with fire so to speak, by rallying our own troops.
Members of our LGBTQ community are the targets of hate crimes here in Pennsylvania.  They are beaten up because they are gay - it happens in high schools every single day.  They are harassed in public.  They are accosted when trying to participate in a lawful activity such as festival or celebration.  These things happen and kudos to Senator Ferlo for putting this legislation on the front burner instead of behind the scenes as an attachment to some other bill.  A message against hate requires a public airing, not a furtive nod.
So what can you do?  Well, for starters, you can “join the impact” by attending the rally on January 10 and the County Council hearing on January 15.  We have strength in numbers.  Make no mistake, my friends and allies, if we turn out many hundred folks for both events, our state elected officials will take note even though it is a County issue.  Your attendance at both events will give Senator Ferlo, Representative Frankel and their allies the statistics they need to persuade their colleagues to vote in favor of the hate crimes legislation. 
The more often you come out, the bigger the difference you can make.

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In 2008 . . .
I spent time with family. I saw my father for the first time in a long time, my daughters saw him for the first time in even longer.
I made new friends and you know who you are . . .
My Mom won three blue ribbons in a Pie-Off.
My beautiful wife became a Roller Girl and turned a beautiful 40 years old.
We went camping and created fun family memories.
I went to San Francisco with LeLo for BlogHer ‘08. I made more friends there and you know who you are!
I became a college student and completed three terms of school earning a 4.0.
My daughters each turned a year older.
I took my mother to Pride.
I was given great opportunity for new experiences with fabulous people.
I was reacquainted with some long ago friends.
I loved well, laughed a lot, had a few obstacles, and grew.
Photos are here!
I am so very grateful for every blessing and fortunate event in my life this year. I hold dear in my heart each of you who has touched my life and continue to share special moments with me and my family. I am truly a lucky and thankful woman.
My heart is full.
XOXO

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In 2008 . . .
I spent time with family. I saw my father for the first time in a long time, my daughters saw him for the first time in even longer.
I made new friends and you know who you are . . .
My Mom won three blue ribbons in a Pie-Off.
My beautiful wife became a Roller Girl and turned a beautiful 40 years old.
We went camping and created fun family memories.
I went to San Francisco with LeLo for BlogHer ‘08. I made more friends there and you know who you are!
I became a college student and completed three terms of school earning a 4.0!
My daughters each turned a year older.
I took my mother to Pride!
I loved well, laughed a lot, had a few obstacles, and grew.
Photos are here!
Wishing each of you a wonderful 2009 filled with new beginnings, good luck, love, laughter, tears of joy and MAGIC!
XOXO

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Cross-Posted at Project Vote's Voting Matter's Blog
Weekly Voting Rights News Update
by Erin Ferns
After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld one of the country's strictest voter ID laws in April, several states rushed to pass similar bills before the year's end. By December, more than 25 states introduced legislation to require voter ID at the polls. Though none of these bills were successful this year, lawmakers in several states are hoping to revive such restrictive requirements in 2009.
Since July of this year, at least seven states have pre-filed or carried over voter ID legislation for the 2009-2010 sessions, including Nevada, Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
Oklahoma Senator and author of Senate Bill 4, John Ford (R-Bartlesville) is confident the voter ID bill will pass in 2009, despite resistance from the legislature to pass a similar bill earlier this year. However, opponents maintain that such a measure would “suppress the vote among the elderly and among minorities,” according to the Tulsa World earlier this month. Furthermore, “there's no documentation of any fraud anywhere in the voting system,” said Sen. Jim Wilson (D-Tahlequah).
Last week, Maryland Senator Andrew P. Harris (R-Baltimore County) pre-filed S 43, a bill requiring all voters to provide government issued photo ID when voting at their polling place. Two days later, the Baltimore Examiner reported an effort to require the voters in Anne Arundel County to provide photo ID at the polls. It would be the only jurisdiction in the state to require photo ID.
“My goal is to improve voter confidence in the election system,” said Republican Anne Arundel County delegate and voter ID supporter, Nic Kipke. “There is skepticism over the validity of elections.”
Despite this assertion, Kipke also admits that there were no instances of voter fraud in the county or the state to inspire the legislation, according to the Examiner.
Voting rights advocates are opposed to such measures in Maryland because such requirements “suppress turnout by intimidating people [away from the polls],” said state ACLU legislative director, Cindy Boersma.”They'll feel as if their vote is being tracked. You shouldn't be able to prevent people from voting if they are constitutionally eligible to vote.”
In May of this year, voting rights advocates, including Project Vote, helped defeat a voter ID/Proof-of-Citizenship bill (HJR 48) in Missouri. Last week, however,  the state appeared to be re-igniting this battle by pre-filing another constitutional amendment to require photo ID (HJR 9).
Other states, including Mississippi, have recently made headlines for similar legislative plans for the new year. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is reportedly proposing to “expand the powers of the secretary of state,” by way of multiple election reform measures, including voter ID. In 2008, voter ID was a top election issue in the state with the introduction and failure of several voter ID bills in both the regular and special sessions. In 2009, Elections Committee Chairman Sen. Terry Burton, R-Newton, “said he would produce [voter ID measures] and other legislative measures on a piece-by-piece basis rather than inserting all Hosemann's voter legislation in a Senate omnibus bill this year,” according to the Jackson Free Press.
Currently, eight states either require or request government issued photo ID. Eighteen more states exceed Help America Vote Act requirements and request both photo and non-photo ID in order for voters to cast their ballots.
Beginning next week, states will begin convening for the 2009-2010 legislative sessions. To monitor voter ID or other election reform bills in 20 states, visit www.ElectionLegislation.org (registration required). To receive a weekly update on election legislation in 50 states and related news, please email eferns@projectvote.org.
 
Quick Links:
www.ElectionLegislation.org
“Voter ID Requirements.” Project Vote (Web page).
“Voter ID Requirements by State.” Project Vote

In Other News:
N.C. voter participation swelled in 2008 - Raleigh News & Observer [N.C.] Democracy North Carolina says 2008 was the Year of the Voter.
Voting changes proposed: Measure would allow early voting, more absentees - Associated Press RICHMOND (AP) - Virginia voters would find it easier to avoid long lines on Election Day if legislation submitted for the 2009 General Assembly becomes law.

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I really wanted to start out this review with, “And, if last week’s review of  Next Door Girls didn’t give you a tingle, then give this Tingle Gel a try!” I’m really sad to inform you all that the Tingle Gel from Sex Toys’ selection of Lubes & Lotions is kind of… not tingly. The bottle reads “Stimulation Plus Advanced Formula Arousal Gel.” Yeah… no.
I gave this stuff so many chances. I tried it out with my partner. I tried it solo. I tried it with just a little bit. I tried it with lots. Would you, could you, on a box? Would you, could you, wearing socks? Actually, don’t. Socks + sex = really lame unless you live in the Arctic Circle. All Seussyness aside, it just really doesn’t live up to the name “Tingle Gel.”
What it DOES do, for me at least, is feel cool once applied. It’s not an unpleasant sensation at all. I want to stress that the sensation is very mild, and the scent is also very mild, which is nice if you’re sensitive to smells. I’ve tried other stimulating lubes and those have all been OMGMINT scented. This one is light, and while it is ever so slightly mouthwashy, it is nice.
It’s flavored, and that is really the best thing about it. It tastes better than any flavored lube I’ve ever tried, to the date of this review. I’m the sort of person who is all for flavored lube to make oral sex better, but only if the flavor is really good. If not, then it’s not worth it, and I’d prefer the flavor of my partner. So on this count, this lube is awesome.
Also, it’s pretty thick and it stays where you put it. I was re-arranging my dildos and randomly put some on the tip of a sparkly dildo I’ve got and set it down, and it didn’t budge. Also, that was when I discovered that it’s the lube that’s pink, not the bottle, like I had originally thought. I know the picture is green, but my lube is pink for some reason.
So it comes down to this.
Pros:

Smells awesome!
Tastes great!

Cons:

It’s not really “tingly”, more “cooling” than anything.
The bottle is really stiff plastic, and there is no pump top, so if you’re in the middle of ahem then it’s hard to squeeze it out.

What you need to know:

This lube is water based. This means you can use it with silicone toys, latex condoms and the like.
This lube has GLYCERIN. This is a sugar. If you’re prone to yeast infections, stay away from this, as it could trigger one.
It also has METHYLPARABEN and PROPYLPARABEN, preservatives that can cause an allergic reaction. I don’t know a lot about parabens, but after a brief stint with google, I return to tell you that parabens can mimic natural estrogen, which can play a role in the development of breast cancer. There are lots of conflicting studies, most of which say that small doses won’t kill you, but most also say it’s good to err on the side of caution.

I’m going to have to reject this on principle. I do like it for its oral sex applications, but I wanted a tingling stimulating lube like one that I used to have that has since been used up. In this respect, Tingle Gel was disappointing. Also, I’m not too keen on rubbing parabens and glycerin on my clit (I didn’t read the bottle till after several tests), since I just recently stopped putting parabens in my eyes by switching to organic eyeliner (which is another story). If you’re looking for a good stimulating lube, I’d give Climax Bursts Stimulating or Warming a try. I have not tried these, but I have heard good things about them from people who have. Climax Bursts lubes are water based and glycerin free. I am not sure if they contain parabens, but I’ve just popped an email off to Topco, the Manufacturer, to see if they can answer that for me. I’ll pass along the information I receive.

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“when all the birds have broken their own wings….”

This is my very first tattoo that I had done in the summer of 2006 when I was going through a really crazy time of my life. The theme of birds with broken wings was very prevalent to me during this time. Not only had I witnessed many dead birds on the sidewalk, road, etc., but metaphorically, I was one of those birds as well. So it has this deep meaning that is somewhat depressing, but it also shows a hint of hope. Even though this bird is in distress and in pain, it is still trying to fly. Getting this tattoo really helped me get through a confusing time in my life. Just by seeing it everyday in the mirror, it reminded myself that I can’t just give up. I still have to fly.

be your own hero

I had my second tattoo done in the summer of 2008. I had turned my life around and instead, I was doing things that I loved instead of self destroying myself. My friends and I started a DIY collective called Be Yr Own Hero and my very good friend created this character for our first ever Be Yr Own Hero Festival that we had in 2007. I really love this image and it really means a lot to me. Not only does it remind me to keep doing the things that I love, but it reminds me of a friend who taught me so much about loving and accepting myself for who I am.
I put a lot of thought into deciding whether I wanted to get these tattooed on my body for the rest of my life. And they are decisions that I would never regret. They have taught me so much about myself and remind me to always stay true to who I am and what I love.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.’s April 1963 Letter From A Birmingham Jail is one of the defining documents of the American anti-segregation movement. Just about anybody who was alive in the early 1960s has heard of it. Dr. King wrote the Letter during a period of incarceration in Birmingham, Alabama. This was one of numerous occasions when civil disobedience on behalf of racial equality landed him behind bars. If the work MLK put into his Birmingham Jail essay is any indication, he certainly used his time in lock-up constructively. It was written in response to a public statement by eight White Alabama clergymen who opposed the confrontational tactics he used. They’d denounced him for leading street demonstrations, and argued that other, less disruptive means should be used to combat institutionalized racism.
It should come as no surprise that Dr. King’s oratory was no less powerful on paper than it was in the pulpit. After publication in the 12 June 1963 edition of The Christian Century, his response stirred such a strong reaction that it was distributed more widely. Most people read the text when the Atlantic Monthly reprinted it later that month. The following year, the Birmingham Jail Letter became the centerpiece of Dr. King’s bestselling book Why We Can’t Wait.
Since the passage of Proposition 8 in California, and media stories about Black Californians supporting the measure by huge margins, an old debate has flared up again: Are Gay Rights Civil Rights? Are Gay activists being arrogant when they say so? And is it wrong to expect President-Elect Barack Obama, an African-American, to identify with LGBT citizens fighting separate-but-equal provisions?
To me, a Black Gay man who has endured both racism and heterosexism, and who sees no difference in the kind of discrimination they generate, this debate has always sounded silly. That said, I find it outrageous that some anti-segregation veterans would argue that Black folk have an exclusive claim to the term Civil Rights, and that no other movement dare use it. Excuse me? Have these folks never heard of the Women’s Rights movement? The Farmworkers’ movement? The Disabled Rights movement? I don’t recall hearing any objections to those groups using the language. I find it even more outrageous that some idiotic Lesbian and Gay pundits lend this argument credence.
In the final decade of her life, Dr. Martin Luther King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, stressed repeatedly that Gay Rights was a Civil Rights concern. She was the “fierce advocate” President-Elect Barack Obama now claims to be, but unlike him, she walked the talk! In 1998, she called for Civil Rights movement veterans to support our struggle. In 2003, she personally invited the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to participate in a 40th anniversary commemoration of her husband’s March On Washington speech. In 2004, two years before her untimely death from cancer, she shocked many in the Black community by championing marriage equality (something her colleague, Rev. Joseph Lowery, still refuses to do). Mrs. King also stated publicly that, contrary to what some religious reactionaries might believe, her late husband did have LGBT citizens in mind when he spoke of equal rights for all people.
I knew this was true because an openly Gay man, Bayard Rustin, had been one of Dr. King’s chief organizers. But is an understanding that Gay people deserve equal rights reflected in his writings? While MLK never made any explicit references to LesBiGay Americans (nobody with a national profile spoke openly about us back then, and besides, his enemies were fag-baiting him behind the scenes), I suspected his language was broad enough that support for LGBT equality could be inferred. I also suspected that a study of his writings would point up strong parallels between racism and heterosexism. My suspicions were confirmed almost immediately; I had to look no further for confirmation than Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. I found the text conveniently located on the Web, and I’d like to share excerpts with you here; as is my habit, I've edited them slightly for style.
I’m struck by the similarity between the jive talk MLK had to deal with four decades ago, and the jive talk today’s Gay Rights advocates hear. We're currently catching flak from the Mormon church and other Right Wing religious institutions. Why? Because we've finally summoned up the courage to picket their houses of worship and cry out against their cruel persecution of us. Recently, they went so far as to spend thousands of collection plate dollars on a mendacious New York Times ad, portraying themselves as innocent victims of Gay intolerance. (Yiddish lesson for today: Can you say “chutzpah?”) That ad can be seen as a modern spin on the 1963 White clergymen's statement targeting Dr. King. Our national advocacy organizations have yet to answer this gross distortion of fact, and they probably won't, but it's instructive to read how MLK responded to the outraged fundies of his day:
You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects, and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's White power structure left the Negro community with no alternative. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known . . . Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.
I wouldn't presume to estimate how many times equality advocates like the Rev. Mel White and others have approached heterosexist churches, seeking to initiate constructive dialogue. I only know many such approaches have been made over the years, and every one I've heard about has been rebuffed. The organized church is firmly entrenched in its philosophy of heterosexual supremacy, a (faulty) Scriptural interpretation that it’s not content to just espouse within its own walls. No, it must need spread this pestilence in the public sphere. Worse, it seeks to impose heterosexual supremacy on secular society by targeting the civil liberties of homosexual citizens.
Here's my response to the fundies' absurd accusations of anti-religious bigotry: If they don't like people objecting to their frequent violations of church/state separation, they only have themselves to blame. If they think they can expect us to lie still while their feet press down on our backs, they're out of their sanctimonious minds! But that's the kind of clouded thinking that supremacy doctrines produce. Isn't it our duty as compassionate human beings to help them think clearly again?

To be sure, Dr. King had his own beef with the institutional church. He wrote:
I have been so greatly disappointed with the White church and its leadership . . . I felt we would be supported by the White church. I felt that the White ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement, and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous, and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows . . . in the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched White churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities.
I've watched Straight and even some Gay religious folk do the same thing. They're quick to talk about church unity, which they value over social justice. They evidently want the heads of Lesbian and Gay Christians bowed in shame as well as in worship. They decline to challenge their leadership's hateful proclamations against LBGT identity (yes, I'm talking about the Pope, but certainly not him alone) and they won't lift a finger to correct the church's distorted Gospel. Have you ever asked questions similar to the ones Dr. King asks in this next excerpt?  
I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings, I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?”
Where were their voices when celebrity pastor Rick Warren likened Gay relationships to pedophilia and incest? When Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. equated homosexual love to ancient temple prostitution? When Bishop Eddie Long called Gay men “faggots” from his pulpit? When Rev. Ken Hutcherson joked about dismembering effeminate men? When the Pope characterized Gay and transgender humanity as a threat to the Earth's survival?
Conservative evangelicals swear they don't engage in hate speech, but the record speaks for itself. How many of their Sodom and Gomorrah sermons have motivated the fatal beating of a Gay man (or a presumed Gay man, such as happened recently in New York City)? How many of their misquotations from the Apostle Paul's letters have triggered the gang rape of a Lesbian? How many transgender teenagers have committed suicide because they validate a defunct Holiness Code that never even applied to Christians? Exactly how many LGBT youngsters are bullied and ostracized every day because of their reckless condemnations? Where is the church’s support for victims of its own vilification? A vilification that has neither basis nor justification in Jesus Christ's teachings? More important, where is its repentance? There's a terribly urgent need for repentance here.
Dr. King wanted to know what God such cold-hearted “Christians” worshiped. I'd answer his question with one of my own: Can Satan be considered a god? Nearly half a century ago, MLK took critical note of how far the organized church had strayed from its Gospel, and he warned that a day of reckoning was nigh:
So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch-defender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent, and often even vocal sanction of things as they are . . . but the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.
We're living in the 21st century now, and there’s been no discernible improvement in the organized church’s behavior. On the contrary, it’s gotten progressively worse. There’s not a trace of authenticity left! As Jesus Christ did before him, Dr. King indicted the orthodoxy in no uncertain terms, but he praised religious leaders who dared to defy their status quo-loving denominations and call for racial justice. His words of affirmation are also balm to Straight allies like Rev. Jimmy Creech and other Gay-affirming clergy who suffer the wrath of church administrators today:
Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the Gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.
Speaking of disappointment, have you read a Gay Rights opinion piece lately? Right now the Gay blogosphere, as well as news-oriented sites like The New York Blade and The Huffington Post are riddled with stern op-eds from self-described “queer” activists and their heterosexual (heterosexist?) sympathizers. These op-eds scold Gay people for daring to want marriage equality, for objecting to hatemonger preachers at a President's inaugural, for demanding full recognition of their American citizenship. That's not the worst of it, either. In an 11 December 2008 New York Blade article, Neil Giuliano, the president of GLAAD, declared: “It (the equality struggle) isn’t about demanding your rights.” Incredibly, he saw nothing wrong with making such a spineless statement.
Giuliano and his oh-so-pragmatic colleagues at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund advised us to cease and desist irritating the powers-that-be with explicitly Gay concerns. They said we should concentrate on the economy, health care and other “big tent” issues. If the United States government fails to live up to its promise of equality for all, so be it; our “leadership” couldn't care less. According to them, brazen discrimination against LGBT folk can and should be tolerated for the greater good of society.
Dr. King was also interested in society’s greater good. The difference is, there was nothing exclusionary about his concept of society. He believed that discrimination against any minority group threw our justice system out of balance, and that such an imbalance threatened everyone’s Civil Rights:
I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Our “fearless” leaders seem to feel that just electing a Democrat to office is enough to set the stage for equality. We’re supposed to throw all our hopes on the Democratic candidate, work like crazy to get him elected, and then hurry up and wait while he attends to every other constituency’s needs but ours. Oh, he’ll eventually get around to Gay Rights, the pragmatists assure us. He just can’t proceed too quickly or aggressively on our behalf, because that would cheese off his other constituents who happen to friggin' hate our guts!
It’s in our best interests to always put his agenda before ours, and God forbid we should make a fuss if he appears to renege on his promises. In other words, the Gay Rights struggle is a partisan political fight, to be waged according to partisan political wisdom, and no emphasis at all should be placed on the moral considerations that justify it. This strategy is so embarrassingly lame, it’s almost quaint! Dr. King had to confront the same retarded reasoning in 1963. Here’s what he had to say about trusting a political candidate to correct social inequalities:
We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of Civil Rights.
Try substituting the name Barack Obama for that of Albert Boutwell, the name Mr. Bush for that of Mr. Connor, the label heterosexists for segregationists, and the term Gay Rights for desegregation. Try it, and you’ll see how Dr. King could easily have been referring to the last Presidential election! Certainly, Wayne Besen and other high-profile Gay activists spoke of Mr. Obama as if his victory were the linchpin that would trigger full LGBT equality. Now, as the President-Elect kisses up to enemies like Rick Warren, they have reason to worry about him keeping his promises.
They have yet to learn what MLK understood implicitly: No disenfranchised minority group gets its Civil Rights served up on a silver platter. You can hire whichever cook you want to cater the dinner party, but if you aren't sitting at the table, you’ll never taste the food. You've got to make reservations at the dinner party. If you can’t make reservations, you've got to disrupt the damn meal! You must make it absolutely clear to the power structure that it can’t dine in peace until your place at the table has been set. Never mind my clumsy dining room metaphors, though. MLK explains the process much better than I do:
My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in Civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily . . . we know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed . . . there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.
“Echoes from a Birmingham Jail” continues with Part Two.

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Dr. King shared my annoyance with those who counsel the disenfranchised to wait for justice. Wait until a court victory is certain! Wait until there’s less bigotry in the culture! Wait until the political winds start blowing in your direction! He heard all those kinds of warnings. MLK certainly wasn’t blind to the political realities of his day, but as a minister of the Gospel, he saw himself spearheading a moral crusade.
He knew that a moral crusade couldn’t align itself to a partisan political timetable and retain its credibility. He also knew that African-American equality would never be a priority for politicians counting on the votes of racist constituents for re-election. In 1963, that category included John F. Kennedy, the man Barack Obama has been frequently compared to. Dr. King and his Civil Rights marchers couldn't count on President Kennedy to do the right thing. They had no choice but to crash his dinner party. They had to create tension in the Kennedy administration and lay groundwork for progress on racial issues. This is what LGBT “leadership” fails to grasp. They turn up their noses at protest rallies and marches. They seem to think the Democratic Party can and will do most of our work for us. When did “career politician” and “Gay Rights activist” become interchangeable terms?
Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well-timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied” . . .
Dr. King also shared Rosa Parks’ impatience with life as a marginalized citizen (see my earlier post titled “Save The Country”). He didn't suffer segregation laws silently, and I doubt he would understand today's calls for Gay people to tolerate ongoing injustices like DOMA and the US military's “Don't Ask/Don't Tell” policy. The most important thing about his Birmingham Jail letter is that it made palpable for millions of White Americans the sting of bigotry’s lash on the backs of their Black compatriots. See if you don't feel it, too, all these years later:
Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim . . . when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your Black brothers and sisters . . . when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society . . . when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children . . . when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do White people treat colored people so mean?”. . . when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you . . . when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “White” and “Colored” . . . when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.” . . . when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments . . . when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobody-ness”, then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
How can anyone counsel patience when every day, Lesbian, Gay and transgender citizens are victims of murder or attempted murder? When every day, LGBT school children are beaten up and taunted with ugly slurs they’re too young to even understand? When every day, mainstream preachers, bishops, rabbis, imams and popes spew dehumanizing definitions of gender-blended people and call it doctrine? When every day, Lesbians and Gay men of faith are subjected to psychological torture in bizarre “ex-Gay” programs designed to stamp shame on their hearts?
When every day, Gay couples avoid kissing or holding hands in public for fear of being harassed, assaulted or killed? When every day, Gay policemen and firemen stay closeted for fear that their colleagues will desert them in a life-threatening situation? When every day, qualified soldiers, sailors and airmen lose their military careers because they refuse to lie about who they are? When every day, Gay or Gay-appearing men enter the prison system and administrators leave them vulnerable to terrorism and rape by other prisoners?
When every day, LGBT folk who work with or care for children live in terror that they’ll be fired by employers who equate them with pedophiles? When every day, textbooks and other literature depicting LGBT folk in a positive manner is challenged for curriculum inclusion and/or banned from libraries? When every day, children of blended gender are disowned by their parents, and parents of blended gender are forbidden access to their children?
When every day, a same-gender spouse is denied the right to visit her sick partner in the hospital, or claim her deceased spouse’s body, or attend her wife's funeral? When every day, religious Right Wing strategists huddle in their million-dollar complexes and dream up draconian ballot initiatives to separate Gay citizens from their constitutional rights? When every day, our tax money funds “faith-based” public services from churches that not only refuse to hire us but also fuel the bigoted environment that creates the other intolerable situations I’ve discussed here?

It appalls me that so many of us have made peace with life under these conditions. We act as if second-class citizenship were a privilege instead of an insult. If I have to read another op-ed like the one I just read by bisexual actor Alan Cumming(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-cumming/a-generation-ago-rick-war_b_152517.html), presuming to tell me what rights LGBT folk should or shouldn’t want, so help me . . . I’ll go postal!
I'm sure that some of you will compare my list of grievances with that of Dr. King, and you'll come away saying: “African-Americans have suffered far more than LGBT Americans ever have.” Others will come away thinking the opposite. Personally, I don't go there. Why should I? Why should you? What's to be gained by comparing levels of oppression? That’s hardly the point.
The point is what Dr. King said about injustice: All Americans lose when any American is deprived of his rights. When we fail to honor our founding principles, our nation stops being a democracy and begins morphing into a fascist state. However, when we enforce Civil Rights for every citizen, we set a shining democratic standard that people all over world are inspired to strive for. Organized Christianity’s stance on LGBT equality notwithstanding, we also set a standard similar to the one Jesus Christ set for His followers. You know . . . that mushy stuff about loving others as we love ourselves?
By the way, the Savior never said Christians should wait until it was easy to meet that standard. He commanded us to meet it immediately, or risk losing our souls to Satan. The Ken Hutchersons and Joseph Lowerys and Rick Warrens of the world are tardy in carrying out their boss’s orders. Please! Let’s not write an excuse for them. Let's not give them permission to dawdle any longer. Let's insist that they live up to the title “Christian”, and do it right now and not later!
We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here . . .
MLK was referring to African-Americans here, but he surely could’ve been talking about LGBT folk. You know what? He really was talking about us. Does anyone doubt that there were Lesbians, Gay men, bisexual and transgender persons among the Black slaves? We already know from historical accounts that the Native tribes European settlers found in the New World included transgender people. What about some of those Pilgrims, too? We tend to marginalize ourselves so completely, we forget that we're all members of ethnic groups. It's high time we started remembering!
If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Allow me the liberty of embellishing Dr. King's words a bit: If the dark days of imprisonment and institutionalization prior to the Stonewall rebellion couldn’t silence us. . . if the pain of ostracism, ridicule and bullying as children couldn’t break our spirits . . . if the scourges of drug abuse, alcoholism, AIDS and breast cancer couldn’t wipe us out of existence . . . if relentless attacks from thousands of Right Wing televangelists couldn’t drive us back into the closet . . . if the passage of 29 marriage protection amendments couldn’t spoil our appetite for equal treatment . . . and if the traitorous boosters of heterosexism among us don’t succeed in their efforts to turn us off the road to full citizenship, the opposition we now face will surely fail!
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation, the righteousness of LGBT identity, and the eternal will of God, upon whose transgender essence we are modeled, are embodied in our proud demands. Believe me, it’s no accident that the inspiring messages of Martin Luther King, Jr. transcend racial applications; they were meant to! The provisions of our Federal Constitution transcend them as well.
This Black vs. Gay conflict over terminology is beyond ludicrous. It’s nothing but thinly-veiled antipathy coming from a bunch of Black bigots. What infuriates me most, though, is the apparently widespread notion among Gay pundits that Black Gay people don’t exist! Ever heard of actor Paul Winfield? He was born Black and Gay. How about playwright Lorraine Hansberry? She was born Black and a Lesbian. Jazz arranger Billy Strayhorn was born Black and Gay, too. So were Blues singer Alberta Hunter, writer James Baldwin and Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. A couple of these people were important figures in the struggle for African-American equality, along with the aforementioned Bayard Rustin.
Being Gay didn’t make any of them less Black! Being Black didn’t make any of them less Gay! Most important, being either didn’t make any of them less deserving of their constitutional protections. Quite a document, our Constitution; read it if you get the chance. Whatever you do, don’t ever let anybody get away with telling you Gay Rights aren’t Civil Rights!

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