Dec 10
JeremySociety and Culture day without a gay, gay marriage, gay rights, protest, volunteerism
Today, December 10, 2008, is being hailed by gay rights advocates as “Day Without a Gay.” Why? Because it rhymes and it’s kinda catchy. In all seriousness, today is also International Human Rights today and it’s being used as an opportunity to call attention to the anti-gay state initiatives that recently passed in California, Arizona, Arkansas, and Florida along with the continuing lack of recognition for gay rights in most states. It’s sort of like a sick out, but instead it’s a gay out. All over the country, gay men and women (along with every alternative label you can imagine) have called into work gay. Lest you think this is a freebie day off, those who participate in the protest are being asked to volunteer their time at gay-friendly (or at least neutral) non-profits which always need another hand or twelve. Basically, gay people are standing up and saying “You deprive me of basic human rights every day, so for just one day, I’m depriving you of my service.”
It sounds like a pretty cool idea in principle. In practice, I’m not sure how many men and women are actually doing it. I’m clearly not — I’m sitting at my desk doing both my regular day job and my writing job here. I, in fact, did consider taking part in the day. Then I realized that if all the gays and lesbians where I worked called out gay, the place would shut down for a day. Okay, not really, but pretty close and there might be some mission-critical elements that went undone for a day. Of course, maybe I work somewhere unusual: two out of seven senior executives are gay and another five or so department heads, let alone the individual faculty and staff. Then again, maybe working in such a gay-positive environment and living in a generally gay-friendly state makes me complacent and maybe that’s why I’m not participating. But I’m not sure that explains the fact that I don’t, offhand, know of anyone participating today.
Volunteer opportunities, along with general information, are listed at the website daywithoutagay.org. In all honesty, though, I was disheartened to see only three volunteer opportunities listed for Massachusetts. Heck, I’m sure there are more than three GLBT organizations in the state, let alone all the other groups that could use some help. A quick search shows that most states are in similar or worse shape, except maybe California. Really, I’m pretty surprised by that given that Day Without a Gay was not a left-field thing. I saw sporadic articles about it across the internet over the past month. If I found it without even paying attention, I can’t see how this protest opportunity could not have easily come to the attention of many more non-profits that could have posted themselves on the website and received some benefit today.
Maybe I should have done this. Maybe I should have called my boss this morning and said “I’m calling in gay. I’m going to deprive you of my services for a day and offer them for free to someone who really needs them.” But would it work? (I don’t think anyone even noticed that I was out sick yesterday.) I think passive resistance protest is too…well…passive for me. I’d rather go to a rally where the impact of thousands of people can be seen by sheer volume if nothing else than try to make quiet waves. I’m not disparaging the idea, but I don’t think it’s the right one for me.
Maybe this article is the way I turn it around and make it work for me. By showing up to work (and let’s face it, I haven’t been so prolific with the writing lately), I got you to read this article. That reminded you that there are people fighting for equal recognition under the law. Whether you meant to or not, I got you to spend a day with a gay. That’s how I’ve made my difference.
Nov 12
AndrewMusic equality, gay rights, HRC
5 tracks recorded live during the 2008 True Colors Tour headlined by Cyndi Lauper are available for sale via iTunes. The tracks include 3 classic Lauper tracks, one song from her last studio release, Bring Ya to the Brink, and a duet with Andy Bell Early Bird.
The True Colors Tour, organized by Lauper in 2007 and 2008, featured a host of gay-friendly acts including Erasure, Debbie Harry, the B-52′s and the Dresden Dolls. Last year’s show also featured appearances by Wanda Sykes, Rosie O’Donnell and Carson Kressley. The tour’s aim was to raise awareness and funds to support GLBT equality initiatives and improve the political capital of organizations like the Human Rights Campaign. All proceeds from the sale of the EP will be donated to the True Colors Fund.
A 2009 tour is in the works.
True Colors Live ’08 track list
1. She Bop (Cyndi Lauper)
2. Set Your Heart (Cyndi Lauper)
3. I Drove All Night (Cyndi Lauper)
4. Money Changes Everything (Cyndi Lauper with Lucas Silveira)
5. Early Bird (Andy Bell and Cyndi Lauper)
Sep 19
JeremySociety and Culture activism, environmental action, fundraising, gay rights, HRC, human rights campaign, MASSPIRG, political action
It’s about a ten minute walk between the building I work in and the central building of the campus. There’s a spot in between, right in front of the Starbucks, where nearly every day there is a fresh pair of idealistic young college students who want to save something or to get me to take political action. They ask me if I have a minute for the environment or for democracy or for whatever it is today. Of course, they really just want to raise money for their cause du jour; it’s my wallet and not my minute that counts. And really, their main interest in raising money stems from the fact that they are getting paid to canvass the area. They’re rarely volunteers, and, half the time, they don’t even know all that much about what they are pitching. So I just walk on by, trying to avoid eye contact.
When I was in high school, one of these eager young beavers came to my door one day. He was from MASSPIRG and he wanted my contribution to save the environment. Being young and idealistic myself, the environment was the cause I worked on most in high school, so I happened to know quite a lot about the topic. I was appalled when he started explaining whatever it was that he was explaining because he clearly did not know a thing about it other than whatever came out of some brochure he’d read. So I proceeded to explain to him just what was wrong with his argument and how he could make a better one. Of course, since he was so ill-informed, I clearly did not give any money to MASSPIRG at the time, and in fact haven’t since. He walked away looking scared.
When I was in my mid-20s and working at a large university where flocks of them would mass on the sidewalk, I would occasionally stop and talk to one, because I felt bad for them. It’s got to be the only human interaction job worse than telemarketing because people blow you off face to face rather than at the other end of a phone line. There’s a face to the rudeness. Well, okay, sometimes I did it if the guy was really cute, too, but that’s another story. If that was the case, I sometimes would even put my name on his mailing list as an excuse to keep talking to him. Again, not so much fulfilling his purpose out there.
Today, as I walked between buildings and past the Starbucks, I couldn’t bring myself to pity the pair out there. As I passed by, one of them said to me, “Excuse me, do you have a minute for gay rights?” So I responded, a little snidely I admit, “All my minutes are for gay rights.” Then I kept on walking, leaving him delightfully agape and wondering how much he actually knows about gay rights or if something that directly affects me is just an $8 an hour job to him.
Later, I started to feel a little guilty and thought perhaps I should have engaged him in a conversation (and no, not just because he was cute) like I did with the MASSPIRG kid oh so many years ago. Perhaps I could have enlightened him on the topic beyond whatever was written on his HRC clipboard, or (hope beyond hope) perhaps he could have enlightened me further. But you know what? Donuts to dollars, even if he was knowledgeable about the topic, all he cared about in the end was getting that donation from me.
On occasion, I will joke to my friends that I used to believe in things. I used to participate in awareness raising events (looking back, though, they all raised more money than awareness). I used to stand in the rain on election day with a sign for the candidate I believed in, even before I could vote. As I’ve grown up, that idealism has been tainted by the realization that in the end, it’s always about money and not about beliefs. When I see that earnest look in the eyes of the kid on the sidewalk, I don’t think I keep walking because I’m in a hurry or I’m annoyed or I don’t think he really believes in his cause. I hurry on by with my eyes down because I’m ashamed of having lost the belief myself. Perhaps if I can overcome my own jaded point of view, I can look the kid squarely in the eye one day and say, “Sure, I have a minute for your cause.”
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