See a nice tribute to Frank Kameny, one of the earliest Gay Rights pioneers, who died yesterday: links at I Should Be Laughing and at Pam's Houseblend and at Towleroad, among others.
It is important for us to keep our history alive and pass it on to the young ones.
Also, it is the 13th year since Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered because he was gay. The above mentioned blogs have posts on this as well.
1 comment:
I tremendously admire the Grand Old Man of gay rights - and how very ironic, and fitting somehow, that he died on National Coming Out Day.
I've read a lot about all he said and did starting back in the fifties - and I when I recall the social climate of those days, it just takes my breath away, the sheer courage he had.
But as he himself said many times, losing everything radicalized him, and that's when you realize there's no point in making nice and playing the game. My radicalizing moment didn't come until my husband's death, as I've blogged about, so I can understand now something of how Kameny felt, and many others like him.
Alas, I have discovered to my sorrow that it's damn near impossible to make your comfortable straight friends and relations understand any of this. The system has worked well for them and paid off in big benefits - so even after a hundred explanations, it's still "why are you so upset?" Shut up and move to the back of the bus, please.
They just don't get it. Never will. Sad.
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