Something Gay: =
It wasn’t easy finding anything both queer and joyful in the news this week. Clicking through, there were a lot of things that were almost getting at substantial progress, or mostly a win but still a loss for some. I was beginning to think this week would be devoid of something gay. Then I saw a comforting and familiar bumper sticker on my walk up to Safeway: the equality logo. That blue square with two yellow lines once signified a glimpse of safety in my Southern home state. I thought back to when that symbol itself was hope, only to find out that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which uses the equality symbol, just had their annual national dinner. This recent event sparked a lot of hope in me for the future of my community, and I hope it inspires you to keep striving for change.
On Saturday, September 26, the HRC hosted their campaign’s national dinner which featured both Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and HRC President Kelly Robinson, who spoke about the importance of fighting for your rights as well as the rights of others. The HRC has been in that fight since it was founded in 1980 and currently stands as the nation’s largest queer civil rights organization, with four million members. They were a pivotal force in the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which now provides protection to the LGBTQ+ community against violence. The national dinner is a fundraiser and speaking event held at the Hilton in Washington, D.C., that brings people from different fields of advocacy from government to the arts together to celebrate the work that has been done and encourage the work they continue to do. This year’s theme was Let’s Get Free!
Whitmer was a key speaker at the event with words that were both encouraging and inspiring. As governor of Michigan, she expanded the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act in March 2023 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in several facets, and in July 2023 she signed the bill that officially banned conversion therapy in Michigan. Whitmer continues fighting for queer rights, this week advocating that cuts to public funding should be the main focus this November. On Saturday, she introduced herself as a “Midwest lesbian’s mom,” according to Advocate, telling the audience of hundreds, “There is nothing more American than fighting for your freedom and nothing less American than denying it to someone else.”
Her powerful speech followed an address by HRC President Kelly Robinson. Her message was clear, demanding an end to the ban on trans military service, the restoration of HIV funding, and betterment of the 988 crisis hotline. Advocate recalls how she summed it all up in one amazing quote, “This is the time to say out loud what we already know to be true: That immigrants belong here. Black lives still matter. Love is still love. Trans women are women. And every child deserves all the protection and joy this world has to offer.”
Your joy is what matters right now. That joy is precisely what the queer community is centered around. Music, drag, or physical media, the things that bring us safety and happiness, are the tools we have to advocate for our right to a life—not just in those spaces but in any space, and not just to exist but to thrive.