1) I've been listening to Story Corps podcasts, marveling in the simple wisdom of this medium and the magic of listening.
2) I saw the movie Milk, about assassinated San Francisco city supervisor and gay activist Harvey Milk, and his message about coming out: we cannot achieve equality until everyone comes out. I take that to mean not only the gay community, but allies as well. It's easy to sit out the revolution under the cloak of polite society, but this will not achieve equality.
3) Prop 8 passed in California, and it has sparked activism on a much larger scale.
4) A few parents at the high school where I teach have complained about the presence of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club, for which I am advisor. I am constantly trying to find the balance between making our club and the cause visible while advocating for civil rights and tolerance, and creating a sanctuary for LGBT kids and allies to meet and socialize without having to out themselves if they aren't ready to do so. I know the temptation to lay low, under the radar, and try not to attract the ire of those in the school community and outside of it, those who wish to maintain the status quo of oppression, shame, bullying, name-calling, and intolerance.
5) Another teacher at my school told me recently that he estimates that 20% of our staff are actively opposed to the GSA and our advocacy at the school. This surprises me (though it shouldn't) and definitely these colleagues don't express their opposition to me directly. I often say that if they could only hear the stories I hear, listen to the pain and fear in the voices of students who suffer under this oppression--they might feel differently, at least so far as to do their part to put an end to the verbal harassment and bullying that goes on under their noses.
So I am launching a project. I will gather these stories, make the voices heard, at least in my own small community. I began by interviewing a college student and graduate of our high school, former president of the GSA, activist and advocate in San Francisco. I don't know yet how this project will manifest itself ultimately. I will post some of the transcripts on this blog as I gather and transcribe them. If each of us who hopes to achieve equality for our LGBT brothers and sisters would take on some small part, even if it's only listening, maybe we will be a force too great to be ignored.
