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What Would They Think?
by Terry Zimmerman
Washington, Jefferson,
Roosevelt, Lincoln; I wonder what they
would think about Gay rights. I would like to ask them what they
feel the government's role should be in guaranteeing that all of the
citizens of America are treated equally. How would they interpret
"Separation of Church and State"? Would they claim that Christianity
is the religion of the land? Or, would they want us to be able to
practice our own beliefs and be free from anyone else's ideas as to
what, or whom, the true Supreme Being is. Should our government
provide a theory as to the origin of man?
Did Washington route
out all of the Gays from his revolutionary
army? Did Gay people serve on both sides in the civil war? Do you
think that there were Gay cowboys and Indians? Did any Gay soldiers
charge up San Juan Hill? Or are we living in a country that thinks that
Gayness is something that started in California in the late 50's?
Homosexual Americans
have been sacrificing life and limb for our
nation since Gay Native Americans were forced to fight off the white
invaders that were stealing their land and destroying their way of life.
Did the founding fathers
intend this to be a country for White Anglo
Saxon Heterosexual Christians only? This country is supposed to allow
freedom of choice, this means freedom of religion, as well as from
religion. A majority of the religious right claims that homosexuality is
a
choice. I do not believe that I chose to be Gay, but if I had, it should
be
my right to do so. What legal grounds exist that allow the leaders of our
country to ignore the facts that Gay people are being denied the basic
right to choice?
If some hate group
decided to burn a cross in your front lawn, that
would not be considered a hate crime under Federal law, or in most of
the States.
The very same group
of politicians that were segregationists 35
years ago are now focusing their hate on us.
Many of the early immigrants
to this nation fled their native lands
to escape religious persecution. Yet today, many of our current
politicians are homophobes trying to force their positions on the entire
nation.
How long will we stand
idly by while our brothers and sisters are
murdered, beaten, raped, fired from their jobs, denied housing and
medical treatment solely because they are Gay? I cry at the
realization that many of our friends have died needlessly from AIDS
because of a President who did not care, and failed to take any action
to even educate the country as to the dangers of this horrendous
plague. And the nation just didn't care.
Are we helpless, or
do we simply not care? I do not believe that
either of these is true. We need to organize our numbers and plan
strategies that will force our nation to hear us. We must unite before
they start herding us onto reservations as was done to real Americans.
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