Lesbian, gay, bi, trans
'We stand against the war'
By Leslie Feinberg
"There are lesbian, gay, bi and trans groups all around the
country who are organizing locally against the war," Jesse
Heiwa told Workers World.
"And a coalition of more than 17 groups have signed into a
statement asking other LGBT organizations to take a stance
against the war. That coalition includes the diversity of our
communities--from Al Fatiha, an LGBT Muslim group, to the
National Youth Advocacy Coalition and an umbrella organization
called Queers for Peace and Justice."
Heiwa, a person of color, is a self-identified queer and
anti-racist activist who also does alternative media work with
WBAI radio. He is a long-time and deeply respected fighter for
social and economic justice.
When Jesse Heiwa takes the podium in Washington, D.C., on
Jan. 18 in front of a massive anti-war audience, he will speak
for many lesbian and gay, bisexual and trans people of all
nationalities across the country who are working hard to stop
this war before it starts.
What message will he deliver? Heiwa said, "That it's
important for queer folk to come out against the war."
Heiwa explained, "The term 'queer' to me is an inclusive
term incorporating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual,
transgender, same-gender-loving and all the other names we call
ourselves. And also it's a political term that reminds us of
our need to link up with all the issues that affect our lives:
racism, sexism, homophobia and class oppression."
What message will Heiwa bring to those who watch the
rally--those bundled up in overcoats in the shadow of the U.S.
Capitol Building and those watching satellite transmission from
the warmth of their homes?
"Not only does the war affect the LGBT communities directly
by taking money away from all the programs, such as AIDS, queer
youth support and anti-violence programs. It also means that
LGBT people--both in the U.S. military and in Iraq--are going
to be directly affected. And we shouldn't be fighting each
other, we should be fighting against the war."
Heiwa points to a recent report that the Pentagon brass
might temporarily suspend its "don't ask, don't tell" policy of
witch-hunts against LGBT people in military--but only for the
duration of the war.
He asks, "Why should we fight in a military that oppresses
people around the world and is not for defense--the same
Pentagon that tells us our lives only matter when they're used
to kill other people?"
And adds, "As people who are oppres sed, we need to speak
out in support of other people who are oppressed--particularly
Arabs, Muslims and South Asians being targeted by selective
registration and imprisonment."
Taking a strong stand against war and racism is not new for
the left-wing current of the LGBT movement, Heiwa notes. "Queer
people have always been involved in anti-war and social justice
organizing and it's no different now."
He will stand at the dais as a powerful representative of
that left-wing current that arose out of a rebellion in
Greenwich Village on a hot summer night in 1969 in response to
police repression.
And he will state, "We are here--a vital part of the
anti-war movement. And as a group of people once made to wear
the pink triangle in the Nazi concentration camps that
signified our oppression, we stand in solidarity with those who
are today facing the full wrath of this government, which is
waging war around the world."
Reprinted from the Jan. 23, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
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