RE: Supreme Court to decide on marriage equality
January 16, 2015 at 11:37 pm
(This post was last modified: January 17, 2015 at 1:00 am by vorlon13.)
LOL !!
I'm experiencing a little quirk of human nature.
Back in the day, just a few years after Stonewall, I was volunteering with a campus Gay Liberation organization, and going to gay bars on the weekend. Sometimes the Unitarians would let us have a dance at their church, which was pretty enlightened for 1975.
There was a strong bond in our group, and we were all aware there was a very long way to go in regards to just basic acceptance, let alone housing and work protections. The entire Anita Bryant mess started in 1977 and she was an incredible threat. We saw 'Kill a Queer for Christ" t-shirts and stickers around, serious talk of concentration camps or long prison terms were bandied about. Vandalism (and worse) for cars parked anywhere near a gay bar on Friday and Saturday night was a concern, along with walking from your car to the bar and back safely. Several of us, after hearing someone yell "FAGGOTS!!" would yell back "WHERE ????"
One year the college group received some money from the student government (to this day I don't know how that happened) but it didn't happen again.
Well, anyhow, where I'm headed is, there is a certain flavor of camaraderie that exists in a persecuted group. We all shared it, and those of us still around today remember that feeling. Us against them, a long fight, and maybe a better future for all of us and those that follow.
Well, it happened, the long fight may not be over, but we've gone lightyears farther than I ever imagined.
But I'm missing that feeling we had back then, and missing it bad . . .
I'm experiencing a little quirk of human nature.
Back in the day, just a few years after Stonewall, I was volunteering with a campus Gay Liberation organization, and going to gay bars on the weekend. Sometimes the Unitarians would let us have a dance at their church, which was pretty enlightened for 1975.
There was a strong bond in our group, and we were all aware there was a very long way to go in regards to just basic acceptance, let alone housing and work protections. The entire Anita Bryant mess started in 1977 and she was an incredible threat. We saw 'Kill a Queer for Christ" t-shirts and stickers around, serious talk of concentration camps or long prison terms were bandied about. Vandalism (and worse) for cars parked anywhere near a gay bar on Friday and Saturday night was a concern, along with walking from your car to the bar and back safely. Several of us, after hearing someone yell "FAGGOTS!!" would yell back "WHERE ????"
One year the college group received some money from the student government (to this day I don't know how that happened) but it didn't happen again.
Well, anyhow, where I'm headed is, there is a certain flavor of camaraderie that exists in a persecuted group. We all shared it, and those of us still around today remember that feeling. Us against them, a long fight, and maybe a better future for all of us and those that follow.
Well, it happened, the long fight may not be over, but we've gone lightyears farther than I ever imagined.
But I'm missing that feeling we had back then, and missing it bad . . .
