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Pen Points
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Marching for Peace in New York City
I have no idea how the march will be covered by the media. I just know that it was important for me to be there for all those innocent people who would die if I didn't go. I participated in the first march against the Vietnam War in 1964. That event was described by Time magazine as "a march by a collection of kooks" against a war that was supported by 95% of the American public. Tonight I had a sense that history was indeed repeating itself. However, there were encouraging differences. I wasn't the only one carrying an American Flag. There were many others. Most inspiring to me were several oriental men holding it aloft as they chanted against Bush's war. And the parade itself was an interesting mixture of people. There were the usual "anti-racism, anti-war" radical leftists with their dreary signs and big banners. They always try to hog the spotlight and co-opt every issue. But they were far out numbered by ordinary New Yorkers, real people with many handmade signs, with such wonderful slogans as 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" etc.
They cleverly divided the marchers so that they were reflections of each others on 42nd Street between Times Square and Avenue of the Americas. While keeping the marchers out of the streets with police barriers, NYC's finest did a reasonable and responsible job of focusing on those demonstrators who were standing on scaffolding along the south side of 42nd Street and who, in doing so, might have possibly caused the scaffolding to collapse and injure those protesting. Anyone seeking a "revolution" tonight was certainly disappointed. After allowing the demonstration, the NYPD fenced in the demonstrators and then allowed them to leave in a steady stream, one at a time. What was most interesting to me about this first protest of the new war of the new Century was how the American flag flew on both sides of the police lines. The police cars had one on every antenna. And behind the barricades, those opposed to the war waved the same flag. It was as if two Americas were fighting for "their right" to the flag of freedom. This was so much better than the Vietnam war when the American flag became "an object of attack". I was so happy to see many other demonstrators carrying the flag. Not one person said anything to me about it. However, I felt that many of the leftist radicals probably disapproved. The bottom line in tonight's demonstration was that it was peaceful, that people sang the old song "Give Peace A Chance". It was also so wonderfully New York City because one of the chants that echoed down the canyons of 42nd Street went: "Bush says war; New York says 'No'!" It was also so wonderfully NYC because you had every race, every ethnic group and every stripe of the political spectrum represented. Tonight's message is that there is still hope for America. George Bush will slowly be swallowed by the quicksand of hate he has stuck his foot into. Hopefully, it will not take America ten years to realize this time around that security can only be obtained by seeing that democracy and justice prevail in even the most remote corners of the world. Injustice breeds terrorism. Evil breeds evil, We have just reaped for the first time the terrible fruits of our own misguided and horrid foreign policies. Those who believe that we can "bully the world" are in for a long and sad wakening. As the body bags come home, America will realize its mistakes--one more victim at a time. Our mindless, prompter-reading President will become a despised public figure and will be sent home to an early retirement. This is my take on the events of this evening. I hope on one hand that I am right and hope on the other hand that I am wrong. My record is mixed. I have been both "right" and "wrong". It is just so tiring and sad to feel like I'm back in the 1960s and it is "all" just starting over again. I'm an old man now. I hoped the world would have learned something and would have become a better place.
Cloningly yours, How TV Reporters Have Failed Us
They didn't mention that Father Mychal Judge, the Franciscan priest who gave his life doing his job as the New York City Fire Department Chaplain was openly and proudly gay and active in the gay civil rights struggle, a hero to his community even before he gave his life tending to the spiritual needs of his fellow man. We saw no interviews of the partner of David Charlebois, the gay co-pilot of American Airlines flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon. There has been little or no televised mention that amateur athlete Mark Bingham who apparently was part of the brave team who overpowered one group of hijackers to save the nation's Capitol was gay. We didn't see sound bites from members of his gay rugby team, or hear of his work on behalf of the International Gay Games. Television editors quietly snipped away and discarded footage of the remarks made during the memorial service by the man who was Mr. Bingham's partner for six years. The viewer never had a clue that most of the attendees of that service were gay people mourning the loss of one of their own. Of course the television reporters did manage to point out the sexual orientation of the heterosexuals who died by mentioning their marital status and showing us their grieving survivors. The viewer was left with the impression that the other victims had lived in a vacuum, with no one to grieve for them. No matter that those gay victims had been involved with loving partners for years if not decades, as far as the TV reports went they were simply "single" and unworthy of further mention. It is to its everlasting shame that the television industry found itself unable for whatever reason, in this time of all encompassing national sorrow, to acknowledge that death and grieving are the great equalizers. That they treat all of us, gay or straight, black, white or Asian, Christian or non-Christian, the same. The producers of television news shows should too feel shame for perpetuating with their silence and lack of coverage the myths that gay people don't have long term loving relationships and that the term "family" somehow applies only to heterosexuals. TV may show an occasional gay person in a situation comedy, but showing some fictional character for laughs, not to mention profit, can't take the place of showing real gay people who do live, enjoy life, have relationships, create homes for themselves, their partners and their families and not the least, die side by side with their heterosexual neighbors, sometimes under circumstances of great bravery and personal sacrifice. One reporter said of his report about the heroic actions of Mark Bingham that "I knew all about him being gay, but I didn't see how it mattered." It matters in this day and age when fanatical religious and political leaders are stirring their flocks up, stereotyping the life of every gay or lesbian American as part of "The gay lifestyle" and warning about some mythical and evil "Homosexual agenda", using these meaningless but dangerous code phrases to incite fear and hatred. To further their hate mongering they use lies and selectively chosen Bible verses to persuade their congregations and constituents that a person's God given sexual orientation is a "choice" and that the "sinner" should be reviled until he "changes", even though the legitimate mental health organizations in this country and abroad have for decades recognized that there is neither a choice nor an ability to change involved. It matters because just two days after the horrific events of September 11th, even before the dust had settled on the bodies of the victims, straight and gay alike, spiritual leaders Pat Robinson and Jerry Falwell went on nationwide television blaming the terrorist attacks on gay people and others whose politics they don't agree with, smearing patriotic and God loving lesbian and gay Americans with the brush of treason and sedition in this the most unsettling of times. One reporter pointed out; "I didn't mention he (Mark Bingham) was white, either, or what religion he was". I am sure that if that courageous passenger were of African American or Middle Eastern descent that fact would have been mentioned. If he were a Muslim that too would have been mentioned. Why? Because every good reporter knows that most viewers assume everyone is white, Christian and heterosexual unless told otherwise. To not mention that Mark Bingham and the others were gay is demeaning and insulting to their memory. It is heterosexualizing and trivializing the lives of very brave gay Americans. God bless America and all of the diverse peoples who reside within her shores. God rest the souls of all who died in this terrible tragedy. This country was founded on the principles of tolerance. We have just been shown the tragic results of unbridled intolerance. Let us all pray that intolerance from either within or without our borders never be allowed to flourish again. Paul Barwick AIDS Drug Research Could End, Drug Companies Warn I think that (your GayToday headline) should be reworded to read: "AIDS Drug Research Could End, Drug Companies Threaten." Research and Development is heavily backed by government and university funds. Yet the drug companies are screaming that if they can't charge $1,500.00/month for drugs which cost $30/month to manufacture, all research will stop. Bloodsucking bastards. Ellipse |
Marchers ask is military action really the answer to terrorism? 
Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, New York City Fire Department Chaplain, was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack 
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