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| Alvin A. McEwen, blogmaster of Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters celebrates his blog's 19th anniversary (after apparently watching too many scenes of Diahann Carroll in 'Dynasty.') |
On Saturday, this blog celebrated a milestone of 19 years in existence.
Nineteen wonderful, glorious years of raising LGBTQ hell and receipt-keeping, or to put it in a politer term, calling out anti-LGBTQ propaganda and lies.
Who would've thought that a project I launched in 2006 (out of anger and frustration of how I was treated as a gay man in college and how the LGBTQ community is generally mistreated) has lasted so long and has made a rather nice impact (with over 13 million hits, gaining national attention several times and winning a GLAAD Media Award on top of seven nominations.) It's an enormous thing to consider because this blog is history - a precise catalogue of how bigoted groups and personalities attempt to wreck our lives via lies about how we are supposedly recruiting kids and putting Christians in jail (amongst numerous other fabrications.)
It's a history of almost every anti-LGBTQ industry lie, and tactic used against us, a place to spotlight the liars, mourn our losses and celebrate our victories. And it's a reminder of how time is on our side by taking note of when people like Jerry Falwell, Anita Bryant, and James Dobson say goodbye to the world while we continue to remain standing undefeated in pride.
But one thing I have learned is how there is no such thing as a happy ending, per se.
The old saying that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty is very true here. While we have won many battles such as marriage equality, backlashes are always sure to come behind progress. One could say that right now, we are in the middle of one with the Trump Administration in office again and for a second time aiming to make us as invisible as they can, starting by openly targeting our trans brothers and sisters.
Instead of right-wing groups with their fake studies and phone talking heads which I took on so often, we've got shrill social media influencers working in tandem with the Trump Administration while passing along doctored footage whose purpose is to exploit hidden prejudices about our general culture, even from those who claim to support us.
All of this has left many of us in a sad quandary. If we aren't preparing ourselves for devasting losses which haven't even happened as of yet, we are blaming trans people and the "queer" community for what's going on.
Some of us have deluded ourselves into thinking that our enemies decided that if they can't defeat us, then they will simply live with us. But then trans men, women, and kids simply leading their lives or drag queens simply reading to kids gave them new purpose.
At least that's the common narrative. And it's a stupid, self-defeating narrative.
When I began this blog, I was in my 30's. I'm in my 50's, now. I move slower, have to motivate myself more, my hands hurt probably from arthritis (sometimes it hurts to make a fist), and I have less time for empty long-winded diversions than I used to have.
Folks can easily allow themselves to get caught up in the fear and the pointing of fingers at their own people, but I don't because of something I've always known. No group has ever won any battle by cowering in fear or performing circular firing squads on each other.
We aren't the enemy to each other.
Instead of quaking in our shoes or attacking each other, we should be putting the attention on those who have made it their goal from day one to make our lives miserable. We're talking about people who will malign and distort just about every aspect of our lives. What they did to us decades ago with images like this:
are the same images they continue to inflict upon us now, but with a slight alteration:
The lies never change, but the targets do. In the end, it's all bullshit and our entire community would do well to recognize it instead of inhaling it.
That's how we win.
Whatever the case may be, I will continue to do what I do. And hopefully do it well by your standards. I've got hope, I've got optimism and most of all,
I've got attitude.
Editor's note - look to your right to see archives of past posts I've published. And if you can't find what you're looking for there, use the search engine above the letterhead. There are over 10,000 published posts on this blog.
