Finally, a blog post (hey, I’m busy!)
Well, apparently by “occasional” I really meant “one blog post per year.” Oops.
That being said, with the intrepid Donald Jessup by my side, maybe I can do better this year. It’s hard to believe we are 8 weeks into the semester already. It’s been a good year, with a great deal of activity and wonderful new and returning students.
Last week, we joined with a number of groups on campus to hold a vigil in memory of the GLBT students who have recently ended their lives due to harassment because of sexual orientation or gender identity. Many people have asked for a copy of the litany I wrote, so we are posting it here. While it was a somber occasion, we were heartened to have so many people join us to speak out for the full inclusion of GLBT people on our campus and in our community. Many thanks to all who were there in body and in spirit.
Okay, more soon (which is indicative of the triumph of hope over experience).
Peace, nancy
Two years ago, many of us gathered to discuss a serious of hate crimes against neighbors in East Tulsa. Last year, we gathered because of a shooting at a youth center for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender youth in Tel Aviv. Tonight, we gather yet again in sorrow to remember more people victimized because of sexual orientation or gender identity. In the past month, we remember the deaths of
- Billy Lucas, age 15 from Greensburg, Indiana.
- Seth Walsh, age 13, of Tehachapi, California
- Asher Brown, age 13 from Cypress, Texas.
- Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman and
- Raymond Chase, a 19 year old student at Johnson & Wales College.
We also remember the unnamed and uncounted victims of homophobia and transphobia across the world.
TOGETHER: “We will remember, and we will work for a more just community.”
We gather to draw attention to the subtle and not so subtle ways that gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people are marginalized and victimized daily. We hear the gay jokes, the offensive phrases – “that’s SO gay” “No Homo!” and too often we remain silent. We hear religious leaders say “they love the sinner, but hate the sin” and we fail to respond that this is neither a loving, nor comforting phrase – that scripturally based bigotry is still bigotry, and that religiously sanctioned shame, blame, expulsion or castigation have no place in any religious tradition. We fail to acknowledge that this teaching fans the flames of anti-glbt rhetoric and the accompanying violence against people that have been labeled as “less-than” their heterosexual counterparts.
TOGETHER: “We will remember, and we will work for a more just community.”
We gather to strengthen our resolve, so that when we see our elected officials using name-calling and fear-mongering against the BLGT community for political gain while writing discrimination into state constitutions, we will proclaim loudly that this is unacceptable. We gather with the hope of legislation that protects those made vulnerable due to sexual orientation or gender identity, and that laws are enacted that ensure the full equality of every citizen.
TOGETHER: “We will remember, and we will work for a more just community.”
While we are grateful for the coverage of an issue that has too long been ignored by society, we recognize that soon the media will find a new story, the fervor will die down, and unless we keep working for education and change, we will undoubtably gather again in the future, in the wake of more tragedies. While well-meaning campaigns have been started to tell youth “that it gets better” this seems to suggest that the burden of dealing with homophobia must be borne and survived by the glbt community, when really it is the task of those of us with heterosexual privilege to make that privilege visible, and work to educate ourselves and our community about the ways in which homophobia and transphobia harm us all. Things will only get better when we all take responsibility for making it better.
TOGETHER: “We will remember, and we will work for a more just community.”
Finally, we gather to recognize that there are those among us tonight who have experienced the name-calling, the physical assaults, the laughter, the hostility, the jokes, the discrimination, the insensitive questions, that target members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. We share the sorrow that for too long, we have been too paralyzed or too scared and we have stood by as it has happened around us. We apologize for our indifference, and we reaffirm our commitment to confronting this injustice and offering our support and solidarity in creating a more just, more inclusive, community.
TOGETHER: “We will remember, and we will work for a more just community.”
You may extinguish your candle and return it to the box, but please keep alive your commitment.
With thanks to the Tulsa World
