(no subject)
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-gaylobby0223.artfeb23,0,4957866.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
Hi Sarahi,
I hate to pull this on you at the last minute, but I think that I cannot, in good conscience, canvass on Saturday. I've been thinking a lot over the last few days about LMF's strategy of actively opposing the civil unions bill, and I think that it would be irresponsible of me (as someone who is not directly affected by the benefits that could come from getting civil unions) to campaign against it. I share LMF's ultimate goal of marriage, but it is my understanding that working against civil unions to achieve that goal is quite controversial in the CT GLBT community. I am uncomfortable with personally trying to prevent the civil unions bill from passing.
I will, of course, continue to pass info on to Rob and Jacob if they wish to go, or you can e-mail them directly if you'd prefer. I generally admire the work that LMF does, and I'm sorry to break ranks on this bill. Again, I apologize for leaving you in the lurch at the last minute. I hope that we can work together in the future on the fight for marriage, without directly opposing civil unions.
Sincerely,
Meredith
Dear Meredith:
I am sorry to hear that you can not join us. But I want to share my thoughts with you on the issue so that you can understand or at least read what I personally think on the issue.
I am but the youngest among this group. New staff member. New to the movement. And while my diploma states that I have a Master’s in Political Science, this whole thing is new to me.
That said I want to talk to you from my heart, because it is the ONLY place where I find strength.
I am a Latina, Lesbian, and a woman. My grandmother arrived in this country and upon her arrival she was caught between the world she had left and the one she found herself in. She came here to try and make a better life for herself and her 11 children. Legislators gave my grandmother “half a loaf” to hold her over “until.” My grandmother died at the age of 82… waiting for the other half. I am still trying to claim her half, mine and then some.
I would believe in incremental steps IF they were guaranteed to give us the other steps later. But nothing is ever certain in this world. Giving the Latino community “some” rights at the time and not others has stifled my community to the point that we are considered a minority (that was the term given us). This incremental thing might work in CT… maybe this state and its legislators are trying to climb the ladder. The argument that other civil rights struggles went through a hundred years of hoops would be a solid one only if we COULDN’T learn from our past mistakes. But if other movements went through the hoops they did to have “full” equality under the law today; then that alone should prove to be the catalyst that makes our legislators realize that this is another small group that SHOULD be protected ENTIRELY by the law… without having to do so incrementally or segregated temporarily.
I can not fight for something that will continue to make a minority out of my respective communities. In doing so, I dishonor the memory of my grandmother. The old lady who said, “Never compromise your rights, even if it means you’ll have to starve. ‘Cause then their excuse will be, ‘well you have something; and that’s better than nothing.” Sometimes we have to risk it ALL to gain it ALL.
My entire life, before me has dangled “something” tangible. And while I have been tempted, I haven’t settled because in doing so I would have lost a lot more than just rights. I fight for it ALL -every day of my life because I don’t know any other way. I wish you could see what compromise in civil rights has done to an entire community considered a minority -not on account of their numbers- but on account of their education, social class status, economic status, etc…
I rather die standing up… than live on bended knees my whole life
Sarahi Y. Almonte