MSU Rally

I recently spoke at one of the 300+ rallies that were held in protest of the California vote on Proposition 8. It was held on the campus of Michigan State Univeristy. Here is what I said:

We are here today to celebrate the beginning of the end of the political power of the extreme right. They have lost their self-proclaimed moral authority and we have now claimed the moral high ground. Outright lies - like saying kindergarten kids will be required to study books about gays and saying churches will be forced to marry gay or lesbian couples – this descent to the mud and slime of hate has left us alone at the top. We now stand on the moral high ground because our cause is just and our rights are unassailable. There may be speed bumps along the path – there always have been speed bumps in pursuit of civil rights and justice – but we shall overcome. We can bring change. As someone recently said, yes we can!
We are angry today. It is a righteous and just anger but we must avoid words and deeds of violence or hate and harness that anger into positive expressions of the dreams we have. We are angry at some religious leaders, but we must not forget that many religious leaders, and true religious expression, are on our side. Many know that “Love thy neighbor” means enabling others – gay or straight – to enjoy expressions of love – including marriage – just like they do. It’s okay to be angry, but let that anger be channeled into positive actions for change and not words of hate or acts of destruction.
230 years ago our country – our country! - issued a bold declaration proclaiming ALL are created with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It took awhile before ALL included blacks, but we got there. It took awhile until ALL included women, but we got there. “ALL” still does not include lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people, but we will get there!
What is different now about the situation is that instead of denying rights everyone thought we had, rights that have been affirmed as constitutionally protected by the California Supreme Court have been taken away. Taking away of rights from a sub group of society is the beginning of a totalitarian state. It must stop now.
The denial of rights is what started the American Revolution – rights being taken away – and that is what has started this revolution. Ours is not a revolution of guns and war but of the non-violent soulforce power so beautifully modeled in Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gandhi before him, and even in the life of Jesus. Ours is a revolution that is non-violent but not passive, that is gentle, but not quiet, that recognizes that the universe is on the side of justice and God is on the side of love and that, for us, failure is impossible. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are rights that belong to us too. And, they are each under attack.
Life.
There is an effort to kill us; to take away our life. Sometimes it is physical violence against LGBT people. One of the most meaningful days of the year for me is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is a time when we remember those whose lives have been taken during the preceding year. I have spoken at many such memorials and they never fail to move me and inspire me to do more. Make no mistake, this violence still happens, often fueled by the foul lies we heard in California. We need to pass hate crimes laws now. This week hate crimes legislation passed the Michigan house and the senate must not delay in passing it as well.
Physical death is real, but more often than physical death; it is a death that simply dehumanizes. The political far right – aided by some religious leaders – declares by their words and actions that certainly marriage is a human right but these “creatures” –“these gays, lesbians, and trans people” are not human. Civil rights are human rights and when our civil rights are denied, ignored, or taken away the message by those that do it to us is . . . “I can do this because you aren’t human”. Our inalienable right of life itself is being eroded, challenged, and even denied.
Liberty.
Your liberty to work where you are qualified to work is being taken away when you can be fired simply for being gay. This is legal in most of Michigan! Your liberty in housing is being taken away when a landlord says “no gays allowed” and gets away with it. Your liberty to live in love is taken away when “No Marriage Allowed” is waved in front of your face. Our liberty is being denied.
Life, liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
One of the most fundamental pursuits of happiness is the happiness that comes from love. One of the most loving – and yes, sacred – expressions of this love happiness is marriage. When marriage is denied gay and lesbian people, our inalienable right of happiness is strangled. Gay marriage is not about taking away someone else’s rights. Gay marriage is not about teaching kindergarten kids about gays. Gay marriage is not about some mythical gay agenda. Gay marriage is about a profound expression of love and the innate, deep, human desire for relational happiness in life.
Joanne and I have been married for 36 years. I wasn’t sure what my transition would do to our marriage; coming out is often a deal breaker. In reality, it has made our marriage stronger and our love deeper. Anyone that tries to take our marriage away is in for a fight. I am in favor of marriage. As an ordained minister I have performed scores of marriages. My favorite lines in the ceremony are pronouncing the completion of the union and the announcement to the couple that “you may kiss”. Whatever California, Florida, and Arizona might have said let me say tonight that you may kiss! You may kiss!
War has been declared on us but it is a war that we will win peacefully and soon because we do stand on the moral high ground. It is a war that will be won if we follow the models of Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, and Jesus. It is a model that patiently and persistently let’s truth ring out and justice roll down. It is a model that lives in quiet confidence but breathes with unstoppable soulforce power. It is willing to change hearts and minds one at a time. It recruits the informed to be active. It informs the uninformed. And it helps the uniformable become aware of their ignorance. It is out and open and proud. It is gentle but bold and it will not be denied. It is you and me, here and now. It is tens of thousands across America in rallies today just like this one. Victory may not come today, but failure is impossible.
Today is a great start, but it is only that. Make your voice heard again and again until the collective roar of our voices can no longer be ignored. Write your state and federal representatives, write your newspapers, speak out - shout out - whenever justice is being denied. Stand with your oppressed brothers and sisters. Their pain is our pain and their loss is our loss. Do not let your fervor wane or your voice be silenced or your candle be dimmed. We shall overcome.
Failure is impossible because we stand on the self-evident truths that we too are equal and we too have the inherent, inalienable, just and certain rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We have these rights. We will exercise these rights. We will live. We will love. We will marry.