What Can’t Be Taken Away
Image Credit: Daniel Efram/ZUMA Press Wire
It’s not like we didn’t know this was coming. What fewer of us foresaw was the blind and reckless speed of the onslaught. We hadn’t gotten through the first hour of “T-2” before the president declared that only two genders exist. Then there was the dropping of “LGBTQ” from the Centers for Disease Control’s website; the instant termination of support for scores of LGBTQI organizations ... and on and on.
But this month’s dishonoring of the Stonewall Memorial in New York rises to a whole different kind of both hubris and assault. Compelling the removal of “T” and “Q” from the physical memorial makes very clear that their aims go well beyond reactionary policy changes. They want to take away our history.
They can’t erase it
Regardless of who threw that first brick, it is impossible to tell the Stonewall story without trans people. You just can’t do it. And without history, no community can really even be a community. We’re all also smart enough to know that chipping away the “T” and the “Q” won’t be the end of their chiseling. Their vision of America simply does not include us.
But Stonewall is our history. They cannot have it. They cannot change it. They may silence its telling or twist its meaning; they can do real damage, say, in classroom teachings that exclude us so a new generation grows up in ignorance. But even then, our history remains our history.
We are still powerful
At this critical moment, we can’t forget our power. Not only can they not take away our history. They also can’t take away our pride. Nor our fight. Nor our unshakeable, bedrock conviction that every human being – LGBTQ people included – deserves to live a life of dignity, freedom, and equality.
Perhaps you, like many others, feel flattened by the torrent of news – and with good reason. But while each of us may not have the power to alter the nation’s course, we can each be part of the refusal to accept dilution or erasure of all we’ve accomplished. So, what can you – we – do?
- Give to LGBTQ community organizations. They need your help, many more than ever. You can use Horizons’ brand new LGBTQ Organization Directory to find LGBTQ nonprofits to support, including many advocating for and working directly in the most vulnerable parts of our community. Horizons’ staff are always available to help you learn about or evaluate possibilities.
- Join in one of Horizons’ four upcoming regional convenings to learn more about what’s going on in your part of the Bay Area’s LGBTQ community and where you can plug in.
- Consider a gift – if you haven’t already – to one or more of our LGBTQ legal advocacy organizations, which are stopping or slowing down dozens of harmful measures:
We have power. It may seem slight next to the monumental challenges, but it’s real. Let’s all remember to use it.
