UPDATED 9-21-11: The Virginian Pilot had a few photos from the event. The boyfriend and I are in the background in one set out below. In another is a young Navy seaman who says repeal felt "like a rock being lifted from his shoulders. Not surprisingly, some of the subscriber comments on the article display hate and ignorance of a level that must make Pat Robertson smile. With such bigotry and ignorance, it's no surprise that the Brookings Institute described Hampton Roads as "old, slow and not too bright."This evening the boyfriend and I attended the local celebration of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, at Waterside on the downtown Norfolk waterfront fittingly across the water from shipyards working on several U.S. Navy vessels sitting in dry dock. I'm not the best judge of crowds, but I'd venture that there were several hundred people in attendance.The principal speakers were Tracy Thorne-Begland who made waves and appeared on national news programs back in the early 1990's, former Congressman Glenn Nye who voted for DADT repeal and Eric Fanning, Deputy Under Secretary for the Navy.
The comments and remarks were moving - especially those of Thorne and Fanning and admittedly, I felt myself tearing up briefly a few times - especially since I had friends at the event who were discharged under DADT and many others who served honorably in secrecy. Equally moving was the presence of a number of active duty military service members. Some in dress uniform, some in military fatigues and many more in civilian dress. To many readers, DADT likely remains a theoretical issue whereas here it impacts huge numbers of individuals daily, including close friends and associates.
I welcome the demise of the religious based bigotry that DADT enshrined. But much needs to be done. Far too many LGBT Americans remain third or fourth class citizens in their own home states and we do not enjoy full equality under the federal laws either. All so that self-enriching whores of the professional Christian set can enjoy a financially comfortable life from peddling hatred and division and so that the psychologically warped can feel better about themselves by discriminating against gay and lesbian Americans. The sickness of religious based discrimination needs to be eradicated and religion needs to be driven out of the civil laws once and for all. Likewise, the deference (dare I say special rights?) given to religion - be it in the form of DOMA, Virginia's anti-gay constitutional amendment or other forms - a force that has ruined and/or resulted in the slaughter of millions of lives over the centuries needs to end NOW.
I welcome the demise of the religious based bigotry that DADT enshrined. But much needs to be done. Far too many LGBT Americans remain third or fourth class citizens in their own home states and we do not enjoy full equality under the federal laws either. All so that self-enriching whores of the professional Christian set can enjoy a financially comfortable life from peddling hatred and division and so that the psychologically warped can feel better about themselves by discriminating against gay and lesbian Americans. The sickness of religious based discrimination needs to be eradicated and religion needs to be driven out of the civil laws once and for all. Likewise, the deference (dare I say special rights?) given to religion - be it in the form of DOMA, Virginia's anti-gay constitutional amendment or other forms - a force that has ruined and/or resulted in the slaughter of millions of lives over the centuries needs to end NOW.
No comments:
Post a Comment