Take the Plunge
It is Time for Organizing
It has been some time since I have written here. There was a time when I wrote here more about poetry or I wrote about the light changing in various seasons over the Tagus River or the value of human connection, and the ways we hold each other in the light when it seems there is no light. It has been hard to write the last year because every day is a fresh new hell of deliberate cruelty, and complicity wilful ineptitude.
I had been skeptical of Pride over the last decade, Pride seemingly having become a parade of corporate sponsors and a side-show for curious straight people experiencing queers in the wild. Over June this year, as the world began Pride celebrations and Black communities prepared for Juneteenth, the US government and corporations moved fast to show the world that not only are we, Queeer and Black Americans not wanted, we do not exist as equal human beings under this administration, or any that will carry its banner in the future.
I am glad that the corporations withdrew sponsorship of Pride and Juneteenth celebrations. There were always those among us who said these partnerships were performative for the companies and prohibitive for us and our speech, and now we are vindicated. Once the winds changed, once decorum and mutual respect were out the door and another band of bigots was given the bull-horn, our fair-weather allies jumped ship, and we saw that we do not need their sponsorship, and we certainly do not need performative allies.
What we do need are federal funds for research, funds which have led to medical breakthroughs over the decades, saving millions of lives. What we do need is continued, targeted support for vulnerable populations who have traditionally faced discrimination in every area of life. What we need is equal access, which is slowly being erased for all Americans not protected by wealth, but first and foremost for women, LGBTQ and Black and brown communities. Every agency or task force that remotely touches our lives, that investigates our claims of discrimination, or offers aid and support in any way has been slashed as DEI, just as the USS Harvey Milk, a ship named after a US Navy veteran who had been forced out of service for being gay has been renamed (the Pentagon confirmed that this announcement was made deliberately during the month of June). Because he is remembered for being the first openly elected gay city council member he is tied mostly certainly to what was being called “gay liberation”, therefore the honor bestowed on this veteran who served during the Korean War is not an honor bestowed on a US Navy veteran who served his country, it is DEI, and therefore detrimental to the security of the United States.
These are times to get involved in organizing. These are times to be in personal contact with people who see us, who see us as human, and who see that there is much to do if we are to prevent coming catastrophe. There is no one answer to pushing back against so aggressively hateful and intentionally cruel an administration, but that is why we organize—we need to meet, to share our concerns, to share our visions, and to share the collective burden of creative thinking. That is the only path to mutual liberation. That is how we show each other that we cannot be erased, and that even if our humanity is not seen by Presidents of countries or Fortune500 companies, it is seen by our neighbors.
Organizing is an empowering, invigorating experience, and for anyone who has never taken it on, now is the time. Take the plunge. Get involved. Get political. Trust me, it’s some of the best fun you could ever have!
