Happy Holidays to All from the Best Damn Newsletter in New Jersey!
CHALLENGE
The Newsletter of the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County Serving New Jersey’s GLBTI Communities Since 1972 Volume 42, Issue 10, Winter 2016
What Now? by Mickey Suiter The election is over and there is plenty of hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing going on with many, especially in our community, sure that the end is near. In fact, though, while the results of the presidential, senatorial, and congressional elections are certainly not good for the LGBTQ community, we don’t know just how bad it will get. It’s more than a little ironic that the same supporters who admire Donald Trump for “telling it like it is” are now trying to reassure those who opposed him by saying “Don’t worry, he doesn’t mean what he says.” He ran a campaign of intolerance, pandering to those who don’t like ‘different’ people. He promised to appoint justices who would reverse Obergefell, ending marriage equality. Since the election, though, he has reversed himself on that and many other issues, and said he considers marriage equality ‘settled law.’ Unfortunately, he is still promising to appoint very conservative justices who are opposed to Roe v. Wade chose Mike Pence, the most antiLGBT governor in the country, as his Vice-President.
The Republican Party now controls the Presidency and both houses of Congress. They have been strongly supportive of so-called religious freedom laws, allowing just about anyone to discriminate on the basis of religion. So not only do we stand no chance of increasing our rights by means such as the Equality Act, we have to be on the alert for attempts to roll back the rights we currently have. We have gained much in recent years, by court decisions, legislation, and Presidential orders. Our opponents will probably try to reverse many of those gains so we must be vigilant and ready to fight. We have faced adversity before and some of our community’s finest moments have come in those times. I have no doubt that we will rise to the occasion once again to not only preserve our rights but to expand them when political fortunes change.
A Letter from Kenya Andy Skurna writes: I have been Facebook friends with Ronnie Mugisha for probably a year or longer. He is one of the 50-100 young men who started following me and befriended me as a result of my meeting Bishop Senyonjo over 6 years ago. He sent me a message immediately after the election
Inside Challenge Challenge Information .......................... page 2 GAAMC Events for December/January page 2 Buddies Corner....................................... page 3 Letter from an Ally ................................. page 4 QSpot Files Lawsuit ............................... page 4 Winter Q-munity Calendar .................... page 5 Gleanings ................................................ page 8 Trump, as easy as 1, 2, 3 ........................ page 9 GAAMC Election Slate .......................... page 9 GAAMC Board Minutes ...................... page 10 Bulletin Board ...................................... page 10 GAAMC Information ........................... page 11 So Long, Farewell…? .......................... page 11
when I had several gay friends in the US ready to hang themselves. I asked permission to share his comments with the world through Challenge, and he agreed. Here is the statement he sent. I have edited it for spelling, grammar, and form. Hello, I am Ronnie Mugisha, a Ugandan LGBTI refugee in Kenya. I am so worried and stressed after the US elections. My worry came after Trump's victory because according to his words I feel as an asylum seeker it will affect me due to he doesn't like LGBTI, he seems to be homophobic, and the wife too. I am worried about racism and homophobia due to the fact that I am LGBTIQ and black. I am so down, worried, and stressed; my dream was to be resettled in a country where I can be free with my sexuality.