Stonewall II

One of the best things about living in Texas is that the State Legislature only meets every other year for about five months. They just adjourned, and everyone in Texas is breathing easier. How sad is that? People spend five months every other year holding their breath and wondering how much damage our elected representatives will do to our environment, our children and our civil rights.

Well, I suppose it could have been worse. Despite Representative Robert Talton’s conniving efforts, his amendment that would have banned LGBT people from being foster parents was stripped from the foster care bill in the conference committee at the very last minute. The most convincing argument seemed to be that it would cost taxpayers $18 million to enforce that. The fact that it was bigoted and bad for the children didn’t seem to carry any weight. Thank God we are economically expedient in this case.

Apparently, though, the legislators didn’t mind the cost of a special election to amend the constitution to ban same-gender marriage. Not only are they seeking to ban same-gender marriage, but they are seeking to ban anything similar to marriage. They couldn’t fix school finances, but, by golly, they can ban gays from getting married - as if we ever could in Texas. They couldn’t address the fact that Texas has some of the worst pollution in the United States, but they could save marriage from homosexuals. They couldn’t address the fact that Texas has more uninsured children than any other state, but they could amend the constitution to provide special rights for heterosexuals. I could, of course, go on, but the best I can say is they adjourned.

Now, we are left to fight the fight. In the most recent issue of the Dallas Voice six out of six people surveyed said they thought the anti-gay marriage amendment would pass. It might. But it shouldn’t pass without a fight!

When Joseph was reunited with his brothers, who many years before had sold him into slavery, he said to them, “You meant it for evil, but God used it for good.” I believe that this is one of those events that, though meant for evil, can be used for good. The anti-gay marriage amendment might pass, but:

• Let this be an opportunity for us to organize.
• Let this be an occasion to identify and mobilize our allies.
• Let this be the last time they think they can use the LGBT community as an easy foe to pander to their religious right constituents.
• Let us develop a strategy to combat it which can be replicated around the country in such a way that this defeat is the turning of the tide.

Sunday, June 26 will be celebrated as Pride Day by most of the LGBT community. I am asking us to come together on that day and strategize about how we can turn this evil into good. We will meet at 3:00 in the sanctuary of the Cathedral of Hope on the 36th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which sparked a civil rights movement.

The leaders on that night in 1969 were most unlikely. Who expected drag queens and transsexuals to lead the way? In the same way, who would expect Texas to be the state that leads the way in this fight? Who would have expected marriage to be the issue on which LGBT people took a stand for equality?

The Texas legislature can do a lot of harm in five months. Let’s see how much good we can do in the five months before the election.

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