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CHALLENGE The Newsletter of the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County - Continuously Serving the GLBTI Community since 1972
Volume 38, Issue 5, June 2012
Tipping Point
by Mickey Suiter A couple of recent political stories indicate that we may have finally reached a tipping point in our quest for equal rights. While we have been making slow but steady progress for several decades, I think we may have hit a critical mass where that slow progress begins to accelerate. First, President Obama has finally come out for marriage equality. Very few of us doubted that he would eventually. His ‘evolving’ was a convenient way of putting off making a commitment. Yes, he was probably pushed into going public a bit earlier than he would have liked by Vice President Biden’s supportive comments. Even so, he has obviously decided that being on the side of marriage equality is no longer a political liability — that enough people support that position, especially among his core backers, so that it is no longer damaging to voice his opinion. The second political event got far less press coverage than the President but may be even more significant. Republican pollster Jan van Lohuizen, who worked for former President George W. Bush, has put out a memo to Republican operatives recommending that it is time Republican politicians change their positions on gay issues. He said that recent surveys have shown a change in public support "at an accelerated rate with no sign of slowing down." Even among Republicans he has found there is significant support for
Staying Over? The Westin Governor Morris is offering attendees of GAAMC's
Ruby Ball a special room rate of
$119 per night for those who wish to stay at the Westin Saturday or Sunday night. Keep an eye on future issues of Challenge for more details as they develop!
ENDA, the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, protections against bullying, and some kind of recognition of gay relationships. In 2004, George W. Bush advocated a constitutional amendment to prevent same-sex marriage and it worked to his advantage. This year most pundits seem to think the issue will be somewhat neutral, that it won’t help or hurt President Obama much. In the near future, it will probably help our supporters and hurt our opposition. And while we’re still losing when our rights are put up for a vote by referendum (our biggest supporters are young people who tend to vote in lower number than our biggest opponents, the elderly), I think we’ve reached the point where that will start to change as well. As a long-time activist I would like to believe that the efforts of activist organizations have something to do with this shift in public opinion. But I also believe that perhaps the main reason for the change is the number of people who have come out and now live their lives openly. It wasn’t so long ago we were used to hearing politicians saying absurdities like, “There are no gay people in my district.” And most people said they didn’t personally know any gay people. Now everyone has a family member, friend, neighbor, co-worker, or acquaintance who they know is gay. And being able to put a face on the issue has done more to change minds than anything else. So as we continue to come out, we will continue to change society.
Inside Challenge Challenge Information.... ................................ page 2 GAAMC Events.............................................. page 2 Bulletin Board .............................................. page 3 Gleanings: Queer news from around the world .... page 4 Dancing to Architecture: music reviews............. page 5 Calendar ..................................................... page 7 The $1.98 Beauty Pageant: A Reminiscence.......... page 9 The Little Box of Concerts.............................. page 11 Poetry: Ghana; Selling Pencils on 5th Avenue...... page 12 GAAMC Board Mini-Minutes, April 2011.............. page 13 This Month's Contributors............................... page 13 GAAMC Information...................................... page 14