PRIDE 2K
Lesbian, gay, bi, trans struggles
Much to be proud of!
By Elijah Crane
It's Pride Month in the year 2000. Many are taking the
opportunity to review and analyze the state of the lesbian,
gay, bi and trans movement.
With good reason. Much is going on. The movement has
achieved significant triumphs, and they are worth
celebrating. But at the same time it's important to
acknowledge the attacks, challenges and state-sanctioned
violations these communities still face.
While there have been some victories in the struggle
against the "don't ask, don't tell" military discharges,
Pentagon bashing of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans
servicepeople continues. It was less than a year ago, in July
1999, that Pvt. Barry Winchell, whose lover was a trans
woman, was brutally murdered as he slept in his bunk at Fort
Campbell, Ky.
The June 17 Washington Post revealed that Washington-area
gay bars are being infiltrated by undercover Navy
investigators under the guise of a drug-busting scheme.
The article quotes a naval officer's description of the
tactic that these agents employ: "The informant will try to
strike up a conversation and try to elicit the information
that that individual is a military member, and then you take
that information, run their plates and try to confirm that
information."
The Pentagon has never prosecuted anyone found visiting a
"heterosexual" establishment. This shows how "don't ask,
don't tell" policy is a fig leaf for the thoroughly anti-gay,
anti-trans Pentagon establishment.
Perhaps the biggest gain of the year for the lesbian, gay,
bi and trans movement came in May when the Vermont
legislature passed a law allowing same-sex couples to enter a
partnership that is recognized by the state. It grants many
of the same rights and benefits to lesbian, gay, bi and trans
couples as are afforded heterosexual marriages, though it
falls short of the right to actual marriage.
Many huge corporations have recently adopted
non-discrimination policies and extended benefits to
employees' domestic partners. GM, DaimlerChrysler and
Ford--the Big 3 auto makers--are counted among these
companies.
This victory was won thanks to the hard-fought struggle of
lesbian, gay, bi and trans workers and organizing efforts by
groups like Pride at Work--the AFL-CIO's official lesbian,
gay, bi, trans constituency group.
Less inspiring is the news that ExxonMobil bosses promptly
revoked Mobil Corp.'s non-discrimination policy after the
recent merger of Exxon and Mobil. Before the merger, Mobil
banned firings and other work-place harassment based on
sexual orientation. It also extended some benefits to
employees in same-sex relationships.
Not a single state in the United States allows same-sex
marriage. Bosses can discriminate against lesbian and gay
workers in 39 states. In 18 states same-sex relations are a
crime.
According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 1999
was just the second year that more bills in support of
lesbian, gay, bi and trans rights were introduced than bills
aimed against the communities--288 to 178.
Women and trans people have been a strong source of
grassroots organizers within this movement. Lesbian marches
have continued full steam in recent years.
The first recorded one took place in 1993 before the march
on Washington. The Lesbian Avengers, the ACT UP Women's
Committee and other Washington-area activists worked to pull
it together. An astounding 20,000 women marched at that
historic event.
Since then, annual Dyke Marches have taken place all over
the United States--and in Ireland, Canada, Japan and other
countries.
'They say get back, we say fight back!'
Bashings and murders of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people
have practically doubled since 1992, according to the FBI's
own statistics.
Anti-gay initiatives like Proposition 9 in Oregon and
Amendment 2 in Colorado also became pervasive in this period.
In the days after Amendment 2 was voted on, bashings rose by
200 percent.
But this rise in anti-gay lynchings did not push the
movement back into the closet. After gay college student
Matthew Shepard was killed in Wyoming in October 1998, tens
of thousands of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people and their
heterosexual allies marched and rallied together in large
cities, small towns and campuses across the United
States.
And this year when Paramount Television executives
announced that they were going to air a national show
featuring "Dr. Laura" Schlessinger, powerful protests sprang
up across the country. "Dr. Laura" is a pop-psychology
talk-show host who uses her radio microphone to spew anti-gay
rhetoric.
The demonstrations to keep her off the television airwaves
are growing--giving television executives and advertisers
alike pause in their decision to back her.
Pride Month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion in
New York's Greenwich Village. Black, Latino and white lesbian
and gay people--led by trans youths--fought back against
police repression.
This year the struggle against state violence--especially
police brutality and the racist use of the death penalty--has
been a significant current in the lesbian, gay, bi and trans
movement. The group Rainbow Flags for Mumia was formed last
year to help save the life of political prisoner Mumia
Abu-Jamal.
It has since built into a broad anti-racist coalition from
the most activist sectors of the lesbian, gay, bi and trans
movement. Lesbian, gay, bi and trans people also came out to
protest the New York Police Department killing of Amadou
Diallo, and have been active in the struggle to stop the
execution of Shaka Sankofa/Gary Graham.
These struggles capture the spirit of the chant that can
be heard at many picket lines and rallies: "Gay, straight,
Black, white, all unite to fight the right."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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