By Eric Rader
In this month of LGBT Pride, we have much to celebrate, yet still face many challenges. Since the Stonewall uprising in June 1969, our community has made great strides toward overcoming a long history of legal discrimination and societal prejudice. Many members of our community were not yet born in 1969 and have benefited enormously from the heroic actions of early LGBT pioneers. After Stonewall, the main focus of the Gay Liberation movement, as it was known at the time, was simply to fight for basic dignity for gays and lesbians. Over time, as with all other civil rights movements, LGBTs began to seek genuine legal equality. Because of the efforts of these courageous fighters, cities began to pass human rights ordinances that were inclusive of sexual orientation, and later, gender identity. We in Michigan should be particularly proud that Ann Arbor was the first municipality in the U.S. to pass a gay rights ordinance. Indeed, several Michigan cities continue to be on the forefront of LGBT equality, and this is certainly a point of real pride in our state.
As the AIDS epidemic claimed the lives of thousands of young gay men in the 1980s, the focus of the LGBT movement shifted to the fight against this deadly plague. During the first six years of the epidemic, when a diagnosis was a near-certain death sentence, President Ronald Reagan could not even bring himself to utter the name of the disease in public. Political activists took action, with groups like Act-Up pushing the public to pay attention to the devastation occurring in the LGBT community and prodding the government to direct financial resources toward fighting AIDS. Some homophobic politicians continued to spew venom about us, but society began to move toward greater acceptance and understanding of our community.
Today, the political struggle for our community has reached a crossroads. As recently as seven years ago, President George W. Bush used same-sex marriage as a wedge issue in his reelection campaign. In 2004, a majority of the public still opposed the right of same-sex couples to marry, and Bush won a second term. Now, polls show that a majority of the public support equal marriage rights, and six states and the District of Columbia grant same-sex couples the legal right to wed. The experiences of these states over the past few years have demonstrated to the rest of the country that straight married couples have nothing to fear when their gay neighbors get married. Unfortunately, many political leaders, even those who support LGBT equality in principle, are still reluctant to push for full marriage equality. The public is definitely ahead of the politicians on this issue.
President Barack Obama has issued LGBT Pride proclamations each year since he took office, and has signed several pro-equality bills and orders, including the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Thanks to the efforts of LGBT civil rights activists, many companies and public entities now include sexual orientation as a protected category in their employment non-discrimination policies, though a comprehensive federal Employment Nondiscrimination Act will not move as long as right-wing Republicans continue to lead the U.S. House of Representatives.
Regrettably, transphobia is still alive and well in our country, as witnessed by recent actions of brutality against trans-women and men. Even though many employers include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies, not enough of them protect against discrimination based on gender identity. Further, there is still much misunderstanding, even within parts of the LGB community, about the important and unique challenges facing transgender Americans. One piece of good news was the U.S. State Department's decision in 2010 allowing people to change the gender designation on their passports if they are going through a clinically-certified gender transition process. But, so much more must be done to achieve greater equality for transgender people in this country, and it's important that we all continue to educate ourselves and our political leaders on these challenges.
Our community must carry forward the civil rights struggle that began more than 40 years ago in New York City. We should look to the founding mothers and fathers of our movement for inspiration. These pioneers paved a path that has made our lives as LGBT Americans in 2011 better than they would have been if the status quo had prevailed after 1969. Pride should be a time for celebration of our achivements, but also a time of resolve. Let's use the spirit of this month, and the energy we gain from the Pride events taking place around our state, to fight for true equality for everyone. Someday in the future, our children and grandchildren will look back on what we did for equality. Let's make them proud.
Michigan Pride–June 11 in Lansing:
http://www.michiganpride.org/
BTL article on the history of LGBT Pride in Michigan:
https://www.pridesource.com/gallery.html?article=47350
"Winning the Future: President Obama and the LGBT Community" – White House website:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/lgbt
