Fighting to Exist
I stand by what I said earlier. We may have a black man going into the White House, but racism is still alive and well today.
Gay Protest Beatings
What kills me is that I know where this is. I used to *live* there. I probably know some of those people.
About a week or so ago, I had a forward sent to my e-mail to remind women of the trials our ancestors went through in fighting for their right to vote. It detailed a specific incident where women who were arrested for protesting found themselves beaten, abused, and nearly died in jail one night - on the warden's order. I read the e-mail, but I didn't send it on or save it. I don't remember why now, but I'm honestly quite ashamed of myself for it.
Because that was history, but the present is still happening.
Women protested their right to vote, Blacks fought for their right to exist on the same level as Whites, and now Gays want to marry just as straight couples can. We're fighting for equality, and the fight that began so many years ago still hasn't ended. Maybe it never will. Because the world is full of hate and misunderstanding, and not enough people are willing to stand up together beside them, and for them.
I'm one of those that isn't standing together - at least not in the community where I live. My excuse is that I'm staying in a place where I most likely won't be accepted for being bisexual, and if I offend the family I'm staying with, I have nowhere else to go. I hate that I have that excuse, and I wish I had the strength to stand up anyway. Because I know if I wasn't here, if I was back in California and I knew what was going on that day, I damn well would have been there.
But then, cowardice is part of what keeps prejudice alive.
The only comfort I can offer myself right now, or anyone who knows me, is that once I have a place of my own again, I don't give a flying fuck who knows about my preferences. And I'll hang a rainbow flag in the window if I have to.
Besides, rainbows are beautiful - no matter what form they take.