Negotiating Civil Rights
Nobody doubts that the homosexual community has suffered enormous and unjust prejudice in the past. Still, that is not justification for inflicting pain on anybody else. While many of us just don’t get it. Homosexuality, after all, is not a personal choice. Medical evidence continues to mount that homosexuality is a naturally inherited condition.
Every social movement makes mistakes. This one represents a short gain that will come back to haunt the homosexual community. However, wise leadership makes adjustments. One thing we can be sure of is that the Catholic Church is not going to change its mind.
Smart leadership of the homosexual community should realize that quiet adjustment does not hurt their cause. To the contrary, stubborn resistance will. Standing against reasonable compromise will create a backlash that, over time, will threaten whatever forward movement their struggle for equality and acceptance has gained. (source)
Looking back on the struggle of blacks before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, I’m sure many white people looked upon the blacks as offering only “stubborn resistance” and “standing against reasonable compromise”.
Tell me, when you are the minority that is being discriminated against, what is a “reasonable compromise”? Your pride, your sense of self-worth, your humanity, your dignity, your family?
What part do you compromise on so that others can feel better about living in such a wonderful society, at the expense of that minority?
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You know, the older I get, the less tolerant I am of BS, and I can spot it from a mile away. I've always tried to be considerate of other people's feelings when they don't understand my situation. I can understand that some people just don't understand or get my issues.
Well, I'm tired of being considerate. Now I'm just plain pissed off, and I really don't give a damn who knows that.
It is not reasonable for gay troops to be discharged from the U.S. military, just for being gay. They should be evaluated based upon their merits and performance - not something as stupid as sexual orientation. Yet, all it takes to open an "inquiry" is for one soldier to report to his commander that he believes another soldier is gay. The accused soldier then has to decide if he is going to lie to his superiors, just to keep his job.
It is not reasonable that my rights should be decided at the voting booth. Of course we are losing fights that are decided at the voting booth. That just shows the level of discrimination, intolerance, and homophobia that is out there. Civil rights should never be decided by a popular vote. I thought that the Constitution was the final say in equality. It is quite clear about it's intent.
It is not reasonable for us to have to settle for anything less than equality (civil unions). Equal by another name is not equal.
I may have to live with some things that I have no control over, but I sure as hell don't have to be "reasonable" about it, and I will not "compromise" on equality. You are equal, or you are not.
I do everything in my power to make sure that I am not supporting bigotry, to every single extent possible. That is what I can do. To show you to what levels I carry this, I was at the grocery store yesterday. I was picking up ingredients for something I was making for dinner. One of the things I was buying was rice. It just happens that the brand of rice I wanted was grown (or at least packaged) in Texas. Texas just passed a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, civil unions, or anything that simulates a marriage-like arrangement for couples who are not heterosexual. I didn't buy the rice.
It seems small. But everything I do to every extent possible is about not supporting discrimination. And if every one of us would do that, we would all be amazed at how loudly the almighty dollar speaks.
I remember the riots in Watts, Newark, and Detroit.
I remember Malcolm X.
I remember the Black Panthers -- Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.
I remember when Stokely Carmichael coined the term "black power" in his speech in Seattle as "the coming together of black people to fight for their liberation by any means necessary."
If Johnson had not signed the Civil Rights Act in 1968, the violence would have continued to escalate.
When it comes to civils rights, there can be no "reasonable compromise." The denial of rights to a class of human beings based on race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation IS NOT REASONABLE.
With each passing day, I realize that I am the the next Stokely Carmichael, the next Malcolm X, the next martyr for equality and justice.
And, so are you!