Hundreds of thousands of citizens march today on the U.S. Capital to remind their American brothers and sisters that second class citizenship still exists in our great country. At the forefront of their agenda is the end of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for serving in the military. Basically, this law informs a substantial portion of the citizenship: "It's okay to die for your country, as long as you don't claim equal recognition." Similar policies allowed African Americans to die for their country.
Additionally, LGBT voters are seeking inclusion in the federal hate crimes law. This law makes it a federal offense to assault someone based solely on their race, color, or religion. Conservatives contend that including LGBT citizens in this protection, amounts to "special rights". Apparently protection from having your body disassembled with assorted tools, having your genitals mutilated, and other abhorrent violence based on your perceived sexual orientation, is not comparable to lynching.
"Perception" of sexual orientation is noted when referring to hate crimes, because often victims of LGBT violence are straight. They suffer violence, or even death, because of a false assumption about their identity. What many voters and legislators fail to grasp, is that as long as LGBT citizens are not afforded the right to serve openly the military, or equal civil marriage rights, they are defined by law as separate, and unequal...second-class citizens. This substandard existence justifies violence in the mind of the perpetrator.
This past June marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, when a group of gays stood up to police harassment in New York's Greenwich Village and took to the streets. That night is most often noted as the birth of the modern gay rights movement. Equal rights, and more importantly equal protection, for LGBT citizens is long overdue.
Write your congressperson, and your senators. Let them know that you support an end to Don't Ask Don't Tell, and inclusion of LGBT citizens in the federal hate crimes bill:
Sunday, October 11, 2009
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