In many ways the current T rebellion parallels the revolutionary tea rebellion. Like the Boston rebels, it’s all about a small band of committed people who no longer willingly tolerate discrimination and who go against the idea pushed by the faint of heart and self-absorbed that if we just wait long enough everything will get better. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were pronounced then as unalienable rights. These rights now seem to be alienable to Barney Frank and the Democratic Party leadership. To them being able to work (life, liberty, and – depending on your job – the pursuit of happiness) are not for T’s (transgender people whose gender identity and/or gender expression are different than mainstream America). The argument that we should “wait awhile and we will come back and get you” was tried in 1776, again in the late 19th century with women’s rights, and, most recently, with the civil rights efforts of the 1960’s. It was a bogus argument every time and still is. Equality should not be a “wait your turn” issue. Frank, Pelosi, et al have shamed their party and all who believe in a just and fair America.
Like many civil rights movements, the outcry has not come from only those most impacted. LGB and civil rights friends have allied with T’s to cry out for a fundamental fairness that keeps the T in equaliTy. Over 200 state and national organizations have made it clear that they do not want a legislation that leaves out trans people. Of all the major organizations only the misnamed Human Rights Campaign has failed to take this position.
Urge your congressional representative to vote yes on an inclusive ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) and against any legislation that continues to support discrimination against gender expression and gender identity. Pease call or email today.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
On Chasing Lions
The senior pastor at my youngest son's church posted these wise words and beautiful imagery:
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.Chase the lion.
Posted by Mark Batterson on his blog on 10/15.07. http://www.evotional.com/2007/10/lion-chasers-manifesto.html
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.Chase the lion.
Posted by Mark Batterson on his blog on 10/15.07. http://www.evotional.com/2007/10/lion-chasers-manifesto.html
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Community and Integrity
Donna Rose’s beautiful, passionate, and heartfelt resignation letter from her position on the board of the Human Rights Campaign (Rose Letter ) begins with two words: “Community.” and “Integrity”. She writes of her hurt and sense of betrayal as well as her ongoing commitment to equality and basic human rights. It is an outstanding letter from the hands, heart, and mind of a very beautiful person.
Part of Donna’s beauty is her focus on the community and integrity which are such core values for the LGBT equality movement. It is a movement – with rolling momentum in both governmental and corporate halls of power – but, a movement that becomes shallow, cold, and cynical without community and integrity.
All of us have a desire to belong; to be in a sharing and caring relationship with others. We want to be in community. Many of us have lost communities: family, friends, churches, jobs in the coming out process. At the time, the losses seemed fathomless in the void they left. Many are still working through some of that pain. Yet, we have found new communities of love, hope, and faith that a better future is possible.
In the last few weeks I have been at two different events: the largest conference in the country for transgender people and a large state dinner for LGBT people and their allies. The pervasive sense of love and belonging – of family – at these gatherings confirms the sense of belonging and “rightness” in our openness and, for some, “outness” to the world about who we are. Our sense of family, our community, comes from our shared integrity.
The sense of oneness and wholeness that comes from seeking to live a life of integrity does not replace the losses we feel. We still grieve losses, but our new community and the energizing power of integrity not only “get us through”, but they bring love, laughter, and peace to our lives. As corny as it sounds, this integrity is about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. These core American values are what bring passion to our movement. They are inalienable rights for all . . . even us. That is why ENDA deserves your unwavering, whole-hearted, inclusive support.
Thanks Donna.
Part of Donna’s beauty is her focus on the community and integrity which are such core values for the LGBT equality movement. It is a movement – with rolling momentum in both governmental and corporate halls of power – but, a movement that becomes shallow, cold, and cynical without community and integrity.
All of us have a desire to belong; to be in a sharing and caring relationship with others. We want to be in community. Many of us have lost communities: family, friends, churches, jobs in the coming out process. At the time, the losses seemed fathomless in the void they left. Many are still working through some of that pain. Yet, we have found new communities of love, hope, and faith that a better future is possible.
In the last few weeks I have been at two different events: the largest conference in the country for transgender people and a large state dinner for LGBT people and their allies. The pervasive sense of love and belonging – of family – at these gatherings confirms the sense of belonging and “rightness” in our openness and, for some, “outness” to the world about who we are. Our sense of family, our community, comes from our shared integrity.
The sense of oneness and wholeness that comes from seeking to live a life of integrity does not replace the losses we feel. We still grieve losses, but our new community and the energizing power of integrity not only “get us through”, but they bring love, laughter, and peace to our lives. As corny as it sounds, this integrity is about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. These core American values are what bring passion to our movement. They are inalienable rights for all . . . even us. That is why ENDA deserves your unwavering, whole-hearted, inclusive support.
Thanks Donna.
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