How about we just stop interacting with CCSF entirely? Let's get this thread back on track.
I've been euphoric for the past several hours, but after seeing some people bring this up, I feel that I've gotta share it here:
It's sombering that there are a lot of LGBT people who aren't here to see this day. A lot of LGBT people have killed themselves, thinking there is something wrong with them, not knowing how to reconcile their sexuality/gender identity with the horrible sh*t society threw at them, not knowing how to keep themselves alive after being thrown out of the house by parents who put their bigoted beliefs above their own children.
Let's remember everyone who was murdered, shot, beaten, stabbed, dragged behind cars and crucified on fences, because of their actual or supposed sexuality/gender identity. Remember all those LGBT people who lived their whole lives far away from any accepting and understanding society over the thousands of years humans have been on this Earth, who surpressed their identity and never got to be themselves before they passed away of natural causes. They never got to see this day.
This day is also a day to remember all those who died of HIV/AIDS since the 1960s. One of the prinicple motives behind the fight for marriage equality was the fact that during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, many LGBT people in their final days and hours were denied seeing their partners by their families, because their partners did not have spousal rights to visitation and medical decisions. Though to many of us young LGBTers who have been bombarded with safe-sex information for all of our lives and know that if we are infected there are ways to manage it and survive, the horrors of the HIV/AIDS crisis that raged just as recently as 20 years ago, cutting down hundreds of thousands of people both LGBT and not, still casts a pretty long shadow. I'm sure posters like Torie have quite a bit to share with us about those times.
I saw in some news reports about how many of the non-profits and advocacy groups that fought for marriage equality are going to wind up their operations and shut down. I hope many of them move on to related issues like anti-discrimination legislation, educating people about LGBT issues, and fighting the still very real and serious problem of LGBT youth homelessness.
The SCOTUS ruling doesn't change the fact that homophobia is still a huge problem, and that millions of LGBT kids and millions of non-LGBT kids currently are suffering from torment and bullying for their actual/supposed sexual orientation/gender identity, that many of them will still silently sit in church/ mosque/ temple/ synagogue and hear messages of intolerance directed towards people like them for something they cannot change. Many will be so torn with this internal and external conflict that they will develop serious mental and emotional issues that will tear them apart. Many of us (like myself) will still live in fear of being fired if our sexual orientation is revealed or even suspected. Many of us will silently celebrate tonight in a house where we are not accepted or understood. Many will still suffer from hurtful comments and even physical attacks, and many will attempt and regretfully succeed in committing suicide.
I'm sorry to rain on the parade (hey, that can be a pun, right? Smile, dammit) and bring such negative thoughts and emotions into this day that should be about the celebration of love and equality, but we cannot forget where this fight started. A lot of us younger LGBTs seem to forget what older generations of had to suffer through to get the ball rolling. While we should celebrate this extremely important achievement to honor those who came before us, we should also remember all those who never got to see this day that they deserved. We should also take this momentum and use it to keep fighting the good fight, for equal protection laws, helping homeless LGBT kids, ending violence towards LGBT people both at home and abroad, challenging our L and G brothers and sisters to accept the B and T people, and to continue opening peoples' eyes to why this is such an important issue and why they should be on our side.
So yeah, end of jumbled, emotional rant. I'm tired as sh*t and drained from the past several hours. Let's have an argument about Illinois' state budget tomorrow, then go crazy at Pride on Sunday. Have a good night y'all. Life gets better.
