http://ourcommunitycalendar.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/%e2%80%9coh-grow-up%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%94-by-eric-marcus/ Bringing our gay community together Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:16:35 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 http://ourcommunitycalendar.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/%e2%80%9coh-grow-up%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%94-by-eric-marcus/#comment-39 John Crittenden Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:42:11 +0000 http://ourcommunitycalendar.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/%e2%80%9coh-grow-up%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%94-by-eric-marcus/#comment-39 I respectfully disagree. Your argument boils down to letting the professional politicians in this specific case push the ball over the line, but for some people only. Gender expression has, from the beginning of the gay rights movement, been a core issue. And the political climate around this issue is far from what it was in the early 1970s. The homophobes are fighting a losing battle, and to say that we must educate them some more about these nonconforming people among us, while still not even being in a position to offer job protection to those of us who can "pass" and not stick out, is disingenious in the extreme. Barney Frank wants to throw the transgenders under the bus so he can proceed with a vote that, even if it goes his way, will be vetoed. Is this the politics we settle for? It really riles me to hear him paint ALL the gay civil rights organizations who are arrayed against him as somehow not understanding how politics work in his club. The great civil rights legislation that was passed in the 1960s was not piecemeal, protecting some black people and not others. It did not divide the people it protected, and yes indeed it had different impacts in different parts of the country. We've had transgendered people -- cops, teachers -- in the news here in New Jersey for years. We finally got job protection for them last December, after years of the Legislature being lobbied. Yes, it took years to get New York City's protections for gay people, and it will take years -- and a new president -- before ENDA is passed, either version. But when we are winning on every front, we must be patient and know that our time will come. Passing a watered-down, divisive bill that will be vetoed anyway -- no! We already know that we will not score a big victory for rights until more Republicans get on the right side of this effort, so I don't buy that Barney Frank holds any magic power of persuasion. It's the Republicans who need to hear from their constituents of both parties, who need to be told vote our way or be replaced, who hold the key. The homophobes simply do not have to be catered to and begged to vote for equality. And that is what "compromise" would be in this case. I respectfully disagree. Your argument boils down to letting the professional politicians in this specific case push the ball over the line, but for some people only. Gender expression has, from the beginning of the gay rights movement, been a core issue. And the political climate around this issue is far from what it was in the early 1970s. The homophobes are fighting a losing battle, and to say that we must educate them some more about these nonconforming people among us, while still not even being in a position to offer job protection to those of us who can “pass” and not stick out, is disingenious in the extreme. Barney Frank wants to throw the transgenders under the bus so he can proceed with a vote that, even if it goes his way, will be vetoed. Is this the politics we settle for? It really riles me to hear him paint ALL the gay civil rights organizations who are arrayed against him as somehow not understanding how politics work in his club. The great civil rights legislation that was passed in the 1960s was not piecemeal, protecting some black people and not others. It did not divide the people it protected, and yes indeed it had different impacts in different parts of the country. We’ve had transgendered people — cops, teachers — in the news here in New Jersey for years. We finally got job protection for them last December, after years of the Legislature being lobbied. Yes, it took years to get New York City’s protections for gay people, and it will take years — and a new president — before ENDA is passed, either version. But when we are winning on every front, we must be patient and know that our time will come. Passing a watered-down, divisive bill that will be vetoed anyway — no! We already know that we will not score a big victory for rights until more Republicans get on the right side of this effort, so I don’t buy that Barney Frank holds any magic power of persuasion. It’s the Republicans who need to hear from their constituents of both parties, who need to be told vote our way or be replaced, who hold the key. The homophobes simply do not have to be catered to and begged to vote for equality. And that is what “compromise” would be in this case.

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