Imagine living in a world where you ran the risk of getting the crap beaten out of you just for being who you are, or giving your boy- or girlfriend a kiss in public.
Imagine your spouse getting critically injured in a car crash, and when you went to the hospital to sit by your loved one's bedside, and make medical decisions the way you know they'd want them to be made, the hospital wouldn't listen to you and didn't consider you next of kin.
Imagine not being able to marry the person you loved, or adopt a child you loved and could care for.
Imagine enlisting to serve our country in the armed forces, serving honorably and to the best of your ability, and getting kicked out because you refuse to hide who you are.
Imagine being told you were going to hell, were a sinner, were wrong, were evil, simply because of who you fell in love with, or having your loving, committed relationship likened to pedophilia or bestiality.
These are some of the challenges -- just some -- that the LGTB* community faces every day.
I have said before, and I will say again, that I believe that the struggle for equal rights for our LGTB fellow citizens is my generation's civil rights struggle. I stand by that.
I cannot be in Washington, D.C. today to march with you, my LGTB friends. But I want you to know that I love you, I support you, I am committed to your struggle.
You add immeasurably to my life. You make me smile, you make me laugh, you make me think, you make me proud. I honor you for the way that you slog on, day after day, with dignity and humor, in the face of ignorance and bigotry and cruelty and even well-meaning cluelessness.
As our President said last night, "I'm here with a simple message: I'm here with you in that fight."
I am proud to stand by you.
I hope to be still standing by you, still proud, when equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, become a reality.
*Is it "LGBT" or "LGTB"?
Brava!
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting this all so eloquently. Some of your points hit close to home- there are still people who will tell me "Why yes, your brother is roasting in hell." (maybe they'll figure that one out when they're there and he's not. oops, did I just type that out loud??) I also remember being at my husband's parent's house many years ago and feeling sad that it was perfectly okay for me to sit on his lap when we had only been together for 2 years, yet his sister and her partner who had been together for 12 years couldn't touch each other cuz his parents still didn't know and wouldn't accept. (btw- they're still together.) Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this, and heres to a day when equality doesn't have to be struggled for, and people can just be. (as long as they play nice)
LGBT
ReplyDeleteright on, carol! no place for hate!
I live in hope with you.
ReplyDeleteI've never been able to figure out why it bothered people so much. But I sure hope that things change even more during my lifetime ...
ReplyDeleteBravo. I couldn't agree more. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully stated and I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteWell-stated!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually LBGTQ.
ReplyDeleteThere's really no set way for the letters to be, especially now that there are so many in between that can't be categorized with a letter besides Q, which for some folks is offensive.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your support of the queer community, Carol. One of my sisters told me she thinks the reason I became gay is because our parents made me mow the lawn. Who knew that grass had that effect?!
You know, they say grass is a gateway drug but they never said it was a gateway to FABULOUS!
ReplyDeleteCarol, I love your heart. You rock.
As usual, Carol, you did a great job of putting the issue in perspective.
ReplyDeleteI take hope in the fact that there has been progress. Not enough, but progress.
Barb B.
Well said! It is indeed our generation's civil rights struggle, and I am convinced that it will end the same way. Someday people will look back and think it's insane that people were treated this way.
ReplyDelete