Catch You on the Rebound!

Things have to come full circle. I am checking my self here… because back on May 27, 2009 I wrote an entry called “Because I’m Fucken Queer till 2010” and said basically that I will catch you on the rebound. So here I am- one day after Judge Vaughn R. Walker of San Francisco struck down Pro. 8 declaring it unconstitutional. (Yes this post IS late- cause it actually happened on August 4th and today is not the 4th). I’m happy about the results, we know that the battle is not over (rolling my eyes) but we can still celebrate- we have to celebrate the small victories to keep us going to the next one. Small victories that fuel our strategy, fuel our passion. Even though my niece is already making plans to plan my wedding, dolphin themed at that! I am not ready to take that step. Not because I don’t believe in marriage etc I am familiar with it’s chameleon-and-one reasons it’s been institutionalized in societies, I believe in the principal of the thing and of course there is the emotional and spiritual definition the ritual validates as well. The big L-O-V-E! Yeah, I’m down for marriage cause I don’t like how Prop. 8 feels too much like “separate but equal” status. It is the principle of the thing, think about it: not all women or people in general who are pro-choice would go out and get an abortion or support the idea of their loved one getting one. So be against marriage but don't be down for Prop 8 either! Whatever, Down with the bullshit already. Hey but you know what, smart and persistent that was the key to the Civil Rights movement. One victory- desegregating education, desegregating counters. After another victory- boycotting buses and sanitation workers striking. The people kept on keeping on because they believed that change was possible- there had to be a better way to live. I will continue believing because I believe in change. I’ve had my probaditas of cohabitation and I’ve liked it. Nesting, some call it, entangling more and more into each other as the years go by and then maybe have some little chicks. Sure, why not it’s not so bad. Some Queers would argue that why go for marriage when there are so many other pressing issues going on that we can and should address. And I say to those Queers, hey guess what they are being addressed- read the newspaper, read someone’s wall for god sake, post a comment, SB 1070, the fight for a national HIV Prevention Strategy which we finally got, education reform, US out the Middle East and I’m sure we can still hear ‘Free Mumia” shouted across college campuses. There is a cause for everything and everything is its cause. So WHY NOT this one? Cause we should remain Queer and not be forced to morph into straights clones to be treated as equals, we should be equal just as we are, and....? Well you know how the rest of the argument goes. The irony is that Judge Vaughn R. Walker used the whole Queer/Outsider argument to support this case- he argued that gays are a minority group that deserve equal protection! He is arguing that the courts should use what is called “strict scrutiny” when dealing with sexual orientation in the same way that all race-based classifications are subjected to strict scrutiny to ensure that policies are not violating constitutional rights, as in gays having constitutional right to marry. So we are queer, his opinion says so now that that’s settled let’s go and be equal protection Queers. Sure maybe marriage isn’t your thing but look at the political/legal ramifications this case has brought. Look, maybe you’re not wearing the veil but open your eyes man! It’s not just about being accepted in society, as if that were so bad, it’s not just about “gay-lesbian-trans-love” it’s about gaining some sort of political leverage, having the laws work for us when filing for discrimination, leverage for when we as Queers turn to the system and don’t have to still feel disempowered cause the law don’t treat us good neither. Sure it could’ve happened some other way but this is the opening that we have and the lawyers are gonna run with it, try to take it to historical proportions.

On another note let’s talk about gay student suicides, why is it that nationwide, gay youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers? Studies show that 90% of LGBY youth have experienced some form of harassment at school due to their sexual orientation and two-thirds of LGBT students reported feeling unsafe at school.[1] But the problems don’t end there, as a community; we have to deal with alcoholism being an integral part of the gay/queer scene. This friends, has to do, at least partially, with the alienation that many of us experience not only from our families but from various types of social support. Many youth feel like they can’t report their experiences to school administrators- who are they going to turn to? The church, their families…school is already crossed out of the picture. I’m not saying that marriage is a panacea and will make these problems go away but it will set off a ripple effect in the many institutions set up in our society to directly/indirectly provide social support to young/older people alike