Regarding a recent op-ed piece published by Paul Schindler, GayCityNews:
I may keep repeating myself, but facts are facts. It is silly to keep quoting 300 groups as working for including ts in the ENDA bill. Who are these people who believe their own propaganda. That may be what's catching up with the rightwingers, so let's not get our community living in a fairyland.
I start with what we said in ’60s when we would publicize a NACHO meeting. We listed lots of “groups” and numbers—Dorr Legg was an expert at distorting the facts—when the fact was that there were perhaps 30 honest people and they represented about 7 honest groups. AND, toward the last of the meetings we suddenly found lots of unknown people showing up saying that they represented lots of people and demanding to vote and try to get us to go into other fields, including joining the Black Panthers, etc. It amuses me to remember how Morris Kight kept telling us that we should work by consensus, a Harry Hay thought, and we knew for a fact that such things didn’t work, since one person making false claims would get us on a project that had no possible way of succeeding and what was a realistic job would thus not be done. We didn’t care about the motive-but some had a political agenda that had nothing to do with our movement, but even if one was honestly devoted to an issue, it was nonsense to go on a tangent and waste our time, energy and money. AND Morris suddenly forgot his previous thinking when it was his group that had to deal with newcomers with wild ideas.
Now I have a video that Barney Frank put out many years ago talking about ENDA. He was not even that famous and powerful then. I think we may have shown it at an early PFLAG meeting. This didn’t start in April or whenever someone discovered it. Frank has proven over the years his devotion to our cause. Even when Don Slater was not always agreeing with him, we never doubted his devotion. Now he is probably the most powerful homosexual in America. His election is NOT due to homosexuals voting. Probably a good thing, as we now see how shallow some are.
And what is all this nonsense about what HRC or some t group says. They don NOT represent the homosexual community, only a small portion of it. If you don't like what HRC or The Task Force is doing, do something yourself. But why would someone or some group be negative? Be positive. Stop saying what Frank or HRC has done wrong. This has been going on for 20 years. All that time you could have been doing something. Let’s see the total number of t groups and their supporters and let’s see them work. There is no doubt that some black people think the Black panthers helped gain civil rights. The fact is that they hurt the cause and slowed it down. It was the NAACP and Dr. King that got black citizens where they are today, with the support of many young black college students and some support from white and other citizens who believed and believe in equal rights for all citizens. That is what has gotten our cause where it is. Certainly we would not be here today if we waited for Ellen, or some celebrity or, some famous queer writer or some rich queer or prince on a white horse. It was provably the middle class, garden variety homosexual citizens who did the work and got us to where we are. And that is what got all minorities where they are.
I may keep repeating myself, but facts are facts. It is silly to keep quoting 300 groups as working for including ts in the ENDA bill. Who are these people who believe their own propaganda. That may be what's catching up with the rightwingers, so let's not get our community living in a fairyland.
I start with what we said in ’60s when we would publicize a NACHO meeting. We listed lots of “groups” and numbers—Dorr Legg was an expert at distorting the facts—when the fact was that there were perhaps 30 honest people and they represented about 7 honest groups. AND, toward the last of the meetings we suddenly found lots of unknown people showing up saying that they represented lots of people and demanding to vote and try to get us to go into other fields, including joining the Black Panthers, etc. It amuses me to remember how Morris Kight kept telling us that we should work by consensus, a Harry Hay thought, and we knew for a fact that such things didn’t work, since one person making false claims would get us on a project that had no possible way of succeeding and what was a realistic job would thus not be done. We didn’t care about the motive-but some had a political agenda that had nothing to do with our movement, but even if one was honestly devoted to an issue, it was nonsense to go on a tangent and waste our time, energy and money. AND Morris suddenly forgot his previous thinking when it was his group that had to deal with newcomers with wild ideas.
Now I have a video that Barney Frank put out many years ago talking about ENDA. He was not even that famous and powerful then. I think we may have shown it at an early PFLAG meeting. This didn’t start in April or whenever someone discovered it. Frank has proven over the years his devotion to our cause. Even when Don Slater was not always agreeing with him, we never doubted his devotion. Now he is probably the most powerful homosexual in America. His election is NOT due to homosexuals voting. Probably a good thing, as we now see how shallow some are.
And what is all this nonsense about what HRC or some t group says. They don NOT represent the homosexual community, only a small portion of it. If you don't like what HRC or The Task Force is doing, do something yourself. But why would someone or some group be negative? Be positive. Stop saying what Frank or HRC has done wrong. This has been going on for 20 years. All that time you could have been doing something. Let’s see the total number of t groups and their supporters and let’s see them work. There is no doubt that some black people think the Black panthers helped gain civil rights. The fact is that they hurt the cause and slowed it down. It was the NAACP and Dr. King that got black citizens where they are today, with the support of many young black college students and some support from white and other citizens who believed and believe in equal rights for all citizens. That is what has gotten our cause where it is. Certainly we would not be here today if we waited for Ellen, or some celebrity or, some famous queer writer or some rich queer or prince on a white horse. It was provably the middle class, garden variety homosexual citizens who did the work and got us to where we are. And that is what got all minorities where they are.
2 comments:
Thanks for the smile, Billy. Glad to have contributed
to obviously getting your rancor up!! I hope you had
a great Thanksgiving. As always, stay strong in the
fight! There are many,many paths to success...however
anyone measures it.
Thanks.
And I agree totally, the time came when more than one group could work for our cause, and now there are hundreds. And each can take aim at a different problem we face, legally, religious, educational, etc. And we can work with other civil rights groups and issues, but each of us can only do so much. I can spend no time pushing for marriage, but I support those who do, but also think the people who say it will hurt those of us who do NOT want to marry since it will make us look immoral, should be listened to.
I can't play in the Gay Games, but I support those who do. I wish I could red every gay/lesbian publication, but can't, and only wish those who read ones I don’t see would share waht news and thoughts they have. I wish people going to Dallas or other places would bring back copies of the local paper so we could see them.
And perhaps, even though I did nothing for Thanksgiving, but watch tv and mainly C-SPAN, and hear different views on such issues as the war in Iraq, who should be th next president, etc., it probably does keep me going to have thoughts I want to express. As a friend in CA says, we would be bored if we agreed on everything.
I have no plans for the holidays but will enjoy them—I am looking forward to three hours of listening to “Newt” on C-SPAN’s In Depth program the first Sunday of December. He is a “problem” for me since I like so much of what he says, but then he is on the wrong side on our issues.
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