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26 Minutes to Go in the Clinton Era:
Ground Zero Plus One
A journalist once asked author James Baldwin, "When you were starting out as
a writer you were black, impoverished, homosexual. You must have said to
yourself, 'Gee, how disadvantaged can I get?'" To which Baldwin replied,
"No. I felt I'd hit the jackpot."
With the advent of a hostile administration in Washington this winter, has
the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in some twist of irony
hit the jackpot? Potentially, yes, as long as we don't give into the same
kind of pessimism that might easily have dissuaded Baldwin from his
remarkable career. If we do, forget any payoff.
Though Bill Clinton never broke the bank with our quarters–he opposed
same-sex marriage, for one–he did make it easier to be queer in America. His
warm handshake, though sometimes symbolic, was a welcome gesture after twelve
years of Republican cold shoulders. Clinton was our unpredictable party dude.
Over the next four years, don't expect too many greetings in the Oval Office.
Forget about candid People Magazine shots of Mary Cheney and her lover
dancing in the East Room. And we wouldn't advise waiting around to hear the
new president utter the word "gay" at a press conference: at some point
you're going to need to get some sleep.
Bush looks like an ambitious singing nightclub waiter who's tagged by the
owner to sing with the band after its lead singer falls ill from stomach
poisoning. Bush knows it's only a matter of time before the owner finds out
he was the one who deliberately passed bad food to the singer, but he's cocky
enough not to care. He knows his managers will fix it somehow.
If, as we believe, Bush did indeed lose the vote in Florida–and thus the
national election--we wonder how his daddy's friends will get him out of that
scrape with the law this time.
Not since Gerald Ford–our only other unelected president--has a man of such
light weight floated into the White House. It would be a mistake, however,
to underestimate him. Like many a man of small intellect, he's surrounded
himself with people smarter than him: admittedly not a hard thing to do.
They make him look good. The sad part is, the press–which should be able to
see through that screen--is going along, at least for now. Where are our
Woodwards and Bernsteins?
Bush's supporters, the people beyond the oval door and the monied backers who
implausibly convinced him he's presidential material, are worrisome enough.
We all know who they are: the ones who would unravel decades of environmental
protections, smudge the wall between church and state, and loosen federal
policies on civil rights and reproductive freedom.
More troubling in this new equation is the media, which has so far pretty
much ignored our worries. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. discovered, progress
in America is impossible without the advantage of the media's pressure. In
the coming months, will the same media that once made the plight of
African-Americans so visible be around for our Birminghams? Will we be able
to get the attention of people whose offices are encased with windows that no
longer open? If we shout, will the decibels register in their board rooms?
During the Clinton years, the media came through for us, though often
reluctantly. Stories on Ellen's coming out may have devolved into a circus,
but coverage of the murder of Matthew Shepard was dutifully respectful.
Editorial rooms pondered our issues intelligently.
But this is Ground Zero Plus One. Ellen's gone and so, it seems, is Mary
Cheney. The press helped make Shepard a martyr. Will it treat an
impoverished black homosexual named J.R. Warren quite as kindly?
Only time, fortune, and our own pluck will tell whether we get three cherries
this time, or another mishmash of lemons, bars, and jesters.
David Williams, Editor
The Letter www.theletter.net
(The above will be published in the February issue of The Letter--Kentucky's
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender newspaper.)
Return of the STAR
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Sylvia Rivera has resurrected STAR as Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries. It will be a militant organization committed to street demonstrations for transgender rights and providing for our basic needs such as shelter, jobs, education.
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 Sylvia Rivera and GayToday Senior Editor Jack Nichols |
We will first co-sponsor with Metropolitan Gender Network, the Anti-Violence Project, the Audre Lorde Project and MCC/NY some demonstrations to pressure the trial of Amanda Milan's killers so that there is a murder conviction of her assailant and the maximum verdict against the other two perpetrators. The day before the trial there will be a demonstration in front of police headquarters protesting the fact that the police have not seen fit to classify the attack as a bias crime.
The night before the trial there will be a march from Sheridan Square Park where the Stonewall is located to the Criminal courthouse at 100 Centre Street, following which there will be an all night vigil where we will read the names of transgender people who have died from hateful attacks all over the world. A press conference will accompany the vigil.
The first day of the trial there will be a moving picket in front of the courthouse to show the public that the trans community will no longer accept having our lives taken violently from us for who we are. Throughout the trial there will be monitors in the courtroom to guard against homophobic and transphobic arguments and testimony.
The trial will take place in the middle of February. We will let you know the exact date as soon as we can. Amanda Milan suffered a brutal murder on June 20, 2000. There was an unprecedented unity of the transgendered community at her memorial service on July 24, 2000, at which several hundred individuals representing themselves and many organizations, along with many from the news media, were present.
Please publish this information, with a call at the end for all transgenders and supporters to participate in these events in any way theycan. We are hoping for blankets for the overnight vigil and funds for a porto-san. Thank you.
Yours,
Julia Murray,
STAR and MGN
New York City
Give Us More BuckcuB!
I want to tell you that my friends and I love that guy
Buckcub you got writing for you! He doesn't try and
make it all nice and pretty like other writers. I was
surprised cause the first thing I read by him was some
sad gooshy thing about having AIDS. I like everything
I've read by him since then.
I'm really writing because of what he wrote about the
blacks in Bushs cabinet. Those people aren't black!
Its just like Buckcub wrote, they're Uncle Toms.
I dont know if Buckcub is black or not, but he sure
does get it. He was right about this minstrel show
and about kiss-ass brothers and sisters who stopped
representing and joined up with Bush for perks from
the white man.
Give us some more Buckcub! Gay Today is the only
place that ever writes about shit that's real for us.
What he said about a slave auction in the congress was
true, man! More!
Godshound
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Pen Points
