i'm missyjack and I'm here to recruit you
Watched "Milk" the other day - pretty good for a biopic and Sean Penn's performance is brilliant. It's always hard in movies like this to balance the personal portrait, with the bigger picture but Gus has done pretty well. My only issue with it being the 'tidying' up of Harvey Milk esp making it look like he only had sex with two men in ten years!
Not ignore the imprtant gains we've made in terms of gaining rights, but really after 30 years I thought things would look a bit different.
How many out lesbian, gay or trans politicians does your State or country have? (Australia has only TWO out federal politicians, and they may be they only two ever I think, and there are none in my State) How many out teachers at your school or your kids? I mean still its rare to see a queer character on TV or in the movies (well except porn!). I still have friends who suffer discrimination at work for being queer, who get assaulted on the street for being different. Who still in 2008 cannot tell their families for fear of rejection.
And last week, on the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a non-binding declaration was put up at the United Nations calling for all countries to decriminalize homosexuality calling for an end to the execution, arrest and detention of homosexuals and trans people. And while 66 countries inc the EU countries, Japan, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Australia supported it, 60 other countries including the USA did not.
I don't have all the answers on how to change things, but "Milk" reminded me of two important points. One is that you can't reason with hatred. No matter how sound your arguments hate and prejudice doesn't care. We are hated for who we are, and not only by some lunatic religious fringe. Prop 8 got up in California with broad support - even Obama thinks it's acceptable to have one of its major supporters, Rick Warren, give the sermon at his inauguration.
The second point is that one strategy advocated by Harvey, was for all of us to come out, that hatred exists more easily when someone doesn't know one of us. I don't underestimate that coming out is still a risky (or even dangerous) thing for many people. And that it's not a one off thing, coming out has to happen continually, in every encounter everyday. I think there is much we need to do in terms of campaigns and lobbying change laws and attitudes but coming out is one thing we each can do every day.
Because it is too depressing to think that things won't change in the next 30 years. So - come out, come out, wherever you are.
Not ignore the imprtant gains we've made in terms of gaining rights, but really after 30 years I thought things would look a bit different.
How many out lesbian, gay or trans politicians does your State or country have? (Australia has only TWO out federal politicians, and they may be they only two ever I think, and there are none in my State) How many out teachers at your school or your kids? I mean still its rare to see a queer character on TV or in the movies (well except porn!). I still have friends who suffer discrimination at work for being queer, who get assaulted on the street for being different. Who still in 2008 cannot tell their families for fear of rejection.
And last week, on the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a non-binding declaration was put up at the United Nations calling for all countries to decriminalize homosexuality calling for an end to the execution, arrest and detention of homosexuals and trans people. And while 66 countries inc the EU countries, Japan, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Australia supported it, 60 other countries including the USA did not.
I don't have all the answers on how to change things, but "Milk" reminded me of two important points. One is that you can't reason with hatred. No matter how sound your arguments hate and prejudice doesn't care. We are hated for who we are, and not only by some lunatic religious fringe. Prop 8 got up in California with broad support - even Obama thinks it's acceptable to have one of its major supporters, Rick Warren, give the sermon at his inauguration.
The second point is that one strategy advocated by Harvey, was for all of us to come out, that hatred exists more easily when someone doesn't know one of us. I don't underestimate that coming out is still a risky (or even dangerous) thing for many people. And that it's not a one off thing, coming out has to happen continually, in every encounter everyday. I think there is much we need to do in terms of campaigns and lobbying change laws and attitudes but coming out is one thing we each can do every day.
Because it is too depressing to think that things won't change in the next 30 years. So - come out, come out, wherever you are.