Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
It's been said that if Amendment One passes today, it will be because supporters confused voters. I think a lot of them are confused themselves. This morning on MSNBC, Pastor Mark Harris, and Amendment One supporter debated Jeremy Kennedy, the campaign manager for the Coalition to Protect All NC Families. While being questioned by Thomas Roberts, watch how Harris jumps and dodges.
In the end, those who fight injustice never lose. Those who fight injustice embody the spirit which makes not only this country, but this world what it should be.
Never give up. Never give in. Never allow yourself to be seduced by the orgy of ego if victorious. And if at any time you lose, never give that loss any more power than it deserves, if any at all. Never allow yourself to succumb to the deceptive warmness of the pool of self-pity, discouragement, and hate.
Remember you have been picked to pave a road so that others can easily walk to where they need to be. Every stony place that makes you stumble causing you to skin your knee, every rock caught in your shoe, and every blister on your foot will be one less obstacle for those who come behind you; those who will walk on the highway paved by your tears, your worry, your work. Take comfort in their ability to reach their destination.
And always remember that they can get to where they are going because you not only pointed out the way, but also led the initial journey and drew up the maps.
Keep those fists up, brothers and sisters.
Good luck in North Carolina, folks. I still say that in spite of it all, you won:
The following passage is from a piece in the Huffington Post entitled My Family Was Harassed at the North Carolina Polls. It is written by Aly Windsor, a mother, partner, and writer. It describes what happened when she and her partner - accompanied by their two young children - went to vote early against Amendment One:
Inside the polling location, the atmosphere couldn't have been more different. Everyone we encountered was respectful and kind. One poll worker cooed over our youngest and tickled his feet. We didn't have to wait at all to vote, and the whole process from start to finish took fewer than five minutes.
As we walked toward the exit, we could see the crowd again through the glass doors. The anti-amendment supporters argued with the pro-amendment campaigners. I felt an intense flush of gratitude that these young guys were willing to stand out in the hot sun, unwaveringly weathering the anger of our opponents, to fight for our family's rights and the rights of many others like us.
I hoped we'd be left alone as we walked to our cars, because no amount of shouting was going to change what we'd already done. But no, we reentered the chaos as we exited the building. Again, I thanked the young men for their presence. As we passed the crowd, a woman who looked to be the same age as my mother shouted after us, "Children are already suffering! Vote for!" Her voice was shrill and angry, and she clearly meant to harm us with her words.
Unfortunately, in the moment, she succeeded. Tears pricked my eyes, but I held it together until we got to our cars. Still within view of the crowd and the malevolent woman, my partner and I carefully put our children in their car seats and then hugged before before driving off separately. As I drove away, my tears spilled out. My 3-year-old asked where we were going, and I replied that I didn't know yet. He asked me why I was sad. I told him that the woman who shouted at us hurt my feelings. He told me she wasn't very nice.
I told him he was right. I knew that the woman was wrong not only in how she spoke to us but in what she said. Our children are not suffering. One need only spend a day with us to realize that our children are thriving, happy, and well-loved. They're fortunate to not only have two adoring parents but an assortment of doting grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
It reminds me of that line at the end of the movie Bridge on the River Kwai uttered by a character who was fortunate enough to live past the scenes of war the movie conveyed, but also unfortunately had front row view of it all:
This report on Amendment One from the Associated Press is excellent. And I know everyone is going to be talking about the elderly man in the beginning of the clip. What he says is astoundingly ignorant but so indicative of the other side and also the reason why we will win when it's all said and done:
Josh Dixon, Olympics Gymnastics Hopeful, Comes Out As Gay - Look at this. A black, gay Olympic hopeful gymnast comes out and . . . you get to choose between the wolf howls or the crickets. And I'm not talking about just the black community. Now I didn't say this, but someone else made the comment to me that if little Mr. Dixon were of a, shall we say, lighter shade, he would be getting a lot more attention. Discuss while I duck. LOL
Bryan Fischer's Last Stand Against The Gays - This Buzzfeed piece reminds me of a Bugs Bunny cartoon I saw where Bugs Bunny led Elmer Fudd onstage, allowed him to make a fool of himself, and then supplied the audience with tomatoes to throw at him. We need to follow that model. Let Bryan Fischer speak, then point out to everyone just how ignorant he is.
The Daily Agenda for Monday, May 7 - The Daily Agenda is a regular segment from the blog Box Turtle Bulletin and I recommend that every lgbtq read it on a regular basis for education and inspiration. You see things are happening now which are bothering me a bit. Tomorrow is the Amendment One vote and it may or may not pass. But what thing that cannot be denied is the simple fact that those fighting Amendment One is putting a hell of a fight in educating people about how harmful this amendment can be to same-sex families and the rest of NC's population. And also that alliances are being formed because of this fight. But if you read some of the messages I have read on Facebook and other places, you wouldn't know that. Some folks are already criticizing the campaign for this or that. Folks need perspective on things. Folks need to be reminded as to where the lgbtq community was then, where we are now, and where we are headed. And they need to ask themselves are they going to be the ones with the discipline for the long fight or are they going be standing on the sides with the crying towels or talking about street protests . . . that is until the next trendy thing catches their fancy. Are they going to be the ones so constantly angry because they are not equal in the eyes of the law yet. Or are they going to spend more time changing the law and not simply for themselves and their relationships, but also for the next generation.
Some of us are so wrapped up in our pity parties that we forget that every move we make affects the next generation. The kids are watching us, folks. They see what we say and we do and trust me when I say that they are taking mental notes. And I rather have my actions and words motivate future leaders into action rather than making them think that things are hopeless. Nothing is hopeless for those who are willing to fight, fight hard, and fight intelligently.
