I'm having trouble writing these days, but I can quote with wild abandon.
Act One-- A Concise History of the Gay Rights Movement
Now, 40 years ago, in the heart of New York City at a place called the Stonewall Inn, a group of citizens, including a few who are here today, as I said, defied an unjust policy and awakened a nascent movement.
It was the middle of the night. The police stormed the bar, which was known for being one of the few spots where it was safe to be gay in New York. Now, raids like this were entirely ordinary. Because it was considered obscene and illegal to be gay, no establishments for gays and lesbians could get licenses to operate. The nature of these businesses, combined with the vulnerability of the gay community itself, meant places like Stonewall, and the patrons inside, were often the victims of corruption and blackmail.
Now, ordinarily, the raid would come and the customers would disperse. But on this night, something was different. There are many accounts of what happened, and much has been lost to history, but what we do know is this: People didn't leave. They stood their ground. And over the course of several nights they declared that they had seen enough injustice in their time.
This was an outpouring against not just what they experienced that night, but what they had experienced their whole lives. And as with so many movements, it was also something more: It was at this defining moment that these folks who had been marginalized rose up to challenge not just how the world saw them, but also how they saw themselves.
As we've seen so many times in history, once that spirit takes hold there is little that can stand in its way. (Applause.) And the riots at Stonewall gave way to protests, and protests gave way to a movement, and the movement gave way to a transformation that continues to this day. It continues when a partner fights for her right to sit at the hospital bedside of a woman she loves. It continues when a teenager is called a name for being different and says, "So what if I am?" It continues in your work and in your activism, in your fight to freely live your lives to the fullest.
In one year after the protests, a few hundred gays and lesbians and their supporters gathered at the Stonewall Inn to lead a historic march for equality. But when they reached Central Park, the few hundred that began the march had swelled to 5,000. Something had changed, and it would never change back.
The truth is when these folks protested at Stonewall 40 years ago no one could have imagined that you -- or, for that matter, I -- (laughter) -- would be standing here today. (Applause.) So we are all witnesses to monumental changes in this country. That should give us hope, but we cannot rest. We must continue to do our part to make progress -- step by step, law by law, mind by changing mind.
That's a pretty good recititation of the history of a movement and the goals it considers important. It means even more that it was from a speech this week by the leader of the free world. Note also that he's applauding a history-making resistance against the police. I'm willing to be patient with President Obama on gay rights issues.
Act Two-- Two Lesbians Host a Fundraiser for a Congressional Candidate in San Diego
Los Angeles Times:
Top officials at the San Diego County Sheriff's Department have ordered an internal affairs investigation into the use of pepper spray by a deputy to make an arrest at a fundraiser in Encinitas for a Democratic congressional hopeful.
The investigation was ordered after Francine Busby met with Undersheriff Bill Gore to complain about the use of pepper spray at her fundraiser Friday at a home in the upscale Cardiff neighborhood. Busby is seeking her party's nomination for a rematch next year with Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Carlsbad) in the 50th Congressional District.
The roughed-up hostess makes a statement:
On June 26, we hosted a fundraising event for Congressional candidate Francine Busby. The event was scheduled from 7pm to 9pm and was an opportunity for those interested to meet Ms. Busby. Approximately 50 people attended. At around 8:15pm, on our back patio, Ms. Busby made a brief speech to those in attendance with the use of a PA system. During her remarks, a male heckler from another property behind our home started shouting disparaging remarks about Busby as well as gays. Ms. Busby finished her remarks at around 8:45pm and the event continued. Shortly thereafter, most people started leaving. Other than quiet background music there was no other entertainment.
At approximately 9:35pm, as the event was winding down, with the remaining guests just standing around engaged in conversation, a Sheriff's deputy named Marshall Abbott walked into our home unannounced and asked for the homeowner, at which time I identified myself. In a very aggressive manner, Deputy Abbott said he had received a noise complaint and I explained that Ms. Busby had used a PA system for approximately 30 minutes but we were very aware of finishing before the 10pm sound ordinance went into effect. Deputy Abbott asked for my name and date of birth. I gave him my name and politely asked him why he needed my date of birth. He said it was for identification purposes in case they needed to return to the premises. Because he had my name and I had identified myself as the homeowner, I asked why he would need my date of birth. He told me I was under arrest, grabbed my right arm, twisted it behind me and threw me on the ground. Some of the 25 or so people who were still in attendance observed what was happening and started asking the deputy what was going on. My partner, Jane Stratton, asked him to please be careful as I had recently had right shoulder surgery. His response was to knock her to the ground. At this point, some of the guests attempted to come to my aid and to Ms. Stratton's. Without warning the deputy started pepper spraying everyone, even those who were simply standing in the area. All of this happened in a matter of minutes. I was subsequently arrested and transported to the Vista detention center and released the following day at 11am.
Maybe I'm hopelessly old-fashioned, but I make it point never to ask middle-aged ladies what year they were born-- or to beat the shit out them.
Act Three: The Fort Worth police look for drunks in bars:
Fort Worth has received national attention after a controversial inspection at a gay bar.
The nation's largest gay and lesbian civil rights organization has called for an investigation, and they're not alone. Council member Kathleen Hicks said she wants the community to know that there is a recourse for complaints such as the ones that arose after officers were accused of violence without just cause.
Seven were arrested and one hospitalized after violence broke out during a raid at the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth.
Hicks called witness reports and Chad Gibson's brain injury disturbing; Gibson's mother, Kelly Carter, called it heartbreaking.
"He's got bruises here on his head," Carter said. "He's got [them] all down his shoulder. He's got a ring around his wrist where they had tied him."
Ah, but don't judge too hastily. These cops were provoked:
Monday, police chief Jeff Halstead said the officers' actions are being investigated. However, he also said that officers that entered the bar during the scheduled inspection were touched inappropriately.
"You're touched and advanced in certain ways by people inside the bar, that's offensive," he said. "I'm happy with the restraint used when they were contacted like that."
I keep hoping to be touched "inappropriately" in a gay bar and it's never once happened. I guess I should have been wearing a police uniform all these years.
Dan Savage gets it right:
Most residents of Fort Worth have never even seen the inside of a gay bar. Fort Worth's police chief Jeff Halstead is counting on that fact—counting on the average person's ignorance about gay bars and certain stereotypes about gay men—to get a half a dozen Forth Worth police officers off the hook for conducting a violent raid on a Forth Worth gay bar, the Rainbow Lounge, late last Saturday night. Seven men were arrested during the raid, which took place on the 40th anniversary of the raid on the Stonewall Inn that kick-started the modern gay rights movement, and one of those men—Chad Gibson—remains in intensive care with a brain injury. Gibson may not survive.
An Assertion:
Riots are generally started when middle-class (and upper middle-class) people believe they've had their rights trampled by the police and/or the judicial system.
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