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'It is Time to Put on Our Marching Shoes!' NGLTF's Director Calls Bush Presidency a Technical Defeat Decries: Privilege, Electoral Corruption and Mismanagement |
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By Elizabeth Toledo
He appealed to the fear and bigotry of homophobia as a stepping stone to power. He rejected feminism, racial justice, economic justice, and the basic building blocks of democracy in his quest for the White House. In past elections this platform might have launched him to power in a decisive vote. Today, he moves into power the clear loser. A president-elect who lost the nation's popular vote and won the electoral college vote only by blocking the free and fair count in Florida, Bush prepares for inauguration under a dark cloud of electoral scandal and voter disfranchisement. I concede that Bush will sit in the White House, but I concede no power to his politics. The stench of this election will remain in the voters' consciousness. At one moment in time I might have thought the best we can muster in a Bush administration is to hold the line. I thought we'd dig our heels in the turf and prevent our progress from slipping a decade or so. I don't think that anymore. I now believe the movement must again reaffirm the power of local organizing, which historically has been ingrained in the mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Let us make sure that every person in every city of the country has an opportunity to be politically active. Let us blanket this country with town hall meetings, rallies, protests, pickets, and campaigns. Let us demand that our voices as social justice activists be heard in every part of the media -- on talk shows and call-in shows and in print.
First, we must not give up on the federal level. Advances are possible, even under a Republican Administration. After all, such breakthrough legislation as the Ryan White Care Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act were signed into law by George W.'s father. Of course, it is important to note that these advances only came after national protests were organized, many by ACT-UP. Again, it is time to take to the streets! Second, we need to take all of the power that the movement amassed inside the beltway and unleash it at the community level. The power of our movement lies in activism -- organized, strategic activism in every state. Third, it made some sense to compromise when we had friends the White House. Our movement made practical decisions in an effort to win whatever gains were in our reach. But even President Clinton acknowledges that the most famous compromise of all -- the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy -- was an abject failure. And so now, our opponents -- and sometimes, even our friends -- will urge upon us compromise. They will urge us to accept narrow possibilities of progress. But now is the time to be truly visionary. If we are not going to put out an agenda that will truly challenge homophobia, nobody else is going to do it for us. Coalitions are forming and major protests are on the way. Thank goodness, it will feel empowering to take off our tuxedos and put on our marching shoes. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force intends to be a clearinghouse for activism in this Bush era. Join us. Collaborate with us. Help us. Go to www.ngltf.org and sign up to be on our activist listserv. Check out the web site every day. Let's link arms. It's a new day in this country, and despite his "victory," George W. Bush doesn't automatically get to be at the helm. |
