Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, 2009
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
A photograph of the riots on the front page of The New York Daily News on Sunday, June 29, 1969. “In 1969, a series of riots over police action against The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, changed the longtime landscape of the homosexual in society literally overnight. Since then the event itself has become the stuff of legend, with relatively little hard information available on the riots themselves. Now, based on hundreds of interviews, an exhaustive search of public and previously sealed files, and over a decade of intensive research into the history and the topic, Stonewall brings this singular event to vivid life in this, the definitive story of one of history's most singular events.” David Carter in his book Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution
LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.
Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.
The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.
My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.
US President Barack Obama
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA
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p.s. This week's TIME magazine has an article about COMING OUT ONLINE (Facebook). One of the links in this article is a slideshow on the history of American GLBT liberation from Stonewall to Proposition 8 in California.
In this day and age of violent extreme exclusiveness, any one showing a balanced moderation to mankind is in grave danger, especially if the one in power is from a minority group.
God bless and save all LGBT and Obama and the common folk with good Christian hearts. Shield us all from the wolves that consistently hunt us.
Amen! Shalom.
American gays led the fight for our rights, but America still has a very very long way to go before it will catch up with much of the rest of the civilized world.
Instead of praising Obama, challenge him to do something concrete for LGBT rights!
So now there's a whole month dedicated to LGBT Pride to recognise the sacrifices of the gay community in America.
Well, they've been having Afro-American History Month since 1926, that's about 83 years ago.
So who knows, maybe in 83 years, there will probably be a gay American president too~! Yay~!
This man that represents Change, is indeed a man of Change!
I was detained but not arrested at the Stonewall Riots. I was inside the Stonwall Bar when the police busted it. The riot started very quickly, and got violent very quickly, scary because it went to chaos.
But......we fought back! And now we are winning, not won, but winning.
Yes Obama is not perfect on gay rights but the people that change the world are US not Obama. Get off your asses and start changing the world, sorry fellows and girls, no excuses. Change begins with ourselves not some body else. I am not perfect at all. so CHANGE!
STONEWALL: BEFORE, DURING, AFTER...A REMINDER TO THE YOUNGER GENERATION.
Background to Stonewall.
________________________
In the United States, as early as the turn of the twentieth century several groups worked in hiding to avoid persecution to advance the rights of homosexuals, but little is known about them.
In 1948, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was published by Alfred Kinsey, a work which was one of the first to look scientifically at the subject of sexuality. Kinsey's claim, that approximately 10% of the adult male population (and about half that number among females) were predominantly or exclusively homosexual for at least three years of their lives, was a dramatic departure from the prevailing beliefs of the time. Before its publication, homosexuality was not a topic of discussion, generally, but afterwards it began to appear even in mainstream publications such as Time magazine, Life magazine, and others.
Despite the entry of the subject into mainstream consciousness very little actual change in the laws or mores of society was seen until the mid-1960s, the time the sexual revolution began. This was a time of major social upheaval in many social areas, including views of sexuality.
Gay liberation
In the late 1960s, the more socialistic "liberation" philosophy that had started to create different factions within the civil rights, Black Power, anti-war, and feminist movements, also engulfed the homophile movement. A new generation of young gay and lesbian Americans saw their struggle within a broader movement to dismantle racism, sexism, western imperialism, and traditional mores regarding drugs and sexuality. This new perspective on Gay Liberation had a major turning point with the Stonewall riots in 1969.
Stonewall.
__________
On June 27, 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, which was a common practice at the time. This type of raid, which was often conducted during city elections, had a new development as some of the patrons in the bar began actively resisting the police arrests. Some of what followed is in dispute, but what is not in dispute is that for the first time a large group of LGBT Americans who had previously had little or no involvement with the organized gay rights movement rioted for three days against police harassment and brutality. These new activists were not polite or respectable but rather angry activists that confronted the police and distributed flyers attacking the Mafia control of the gay bars and the various anti-vice laws that allowed the police to harass gay men and gay drinking establishmendists. This second wave of the gay rights movement is often referred to as the Gay Liberation movement to draw a distinction with the previous homophile movement.
These riots are generally considered to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, as it was the first time in modern history that a significant body of LGBT people resisted arrest. Given the population that frequented the establishment, a large percentage of the people who initially fought back were persons of colour.
( > to emphasize a historical fact,barely remembered ).
After Stonewall.
________________
On 28 June, 1970, the first anniversary of the riots, the Gay Liberation Front organized a march, coordinated by Connor Weir and Neil Briggs, from Greenwich Village to Central Park in New York City in commemoration of the Stonewall riots. On the same weekend gay activist groups on the West Coast of the United States held a march in Los Angeles and a march and 'Gay-in' in San Francisco.
One day earlier, on Saturday, 27 June 1970, Chicago Gay Liberation organized a march from Washington Square Park ("Bughouse Square") to the Water Tower at the intersection of Michigan and Chicago avenues, which was the route originally planned, and then many of the participants extemporaneously marched on to the Civic Center (now Richard J. Daley) Plaza. The date was chosen because the Stonewall events began on the last Saturday of June and because organizers wanted to reach the maximum number of Michigan Avenue shoppers. Subsequent Chicago parades have been held on the last Sunday of June, coinciding with the date of many similar parades elsewhere.
The first marches were both serious and fun, and served to inspire the widening activist movement; they were repeated in the following years, and more and more annual marches started up in other cities throughout the world. In New York and Atlanta the marches were called Gay Liberation Marches, and the day of celebration was called "Gay Liberation Day"; in San Francisco and Los Angeles they became known as 'Gay Freedom Marches' and the day was called "Gay Freedom Day". As more towns and cities began holding their own celebrations, these names spread.
In the 1980s there was a cultural shift in the gay movement. Activists of a less radical nature began taking over the march committees in different cities, and they dropped "Gay Liberation" and "Gay Freedom" from the names, replacing them with "Gay Pride".
*Though the reality was that the Stonewall riots themselves, as well as the *immediate and the ongoing political organizing that occurred following them, *were events fully participated in by lesbian women, bisexual people and *transgender people as well as by gay men of all races and backgrounds, *historically these events were first named Gay, the word at that time being *used in a more generic sense to cover the entire spectrum of what is now *variously called the 'queer' or LGBT community.
*By the late 1970s and early 1980s, as many of the actual participants had *grown older, moved on to other issues or died, this led to misunderstandings *as to who had actually participated in the Stonewall riots, who had actually *organized the subsequent demonstrations, marches and memorials, and who had *been members of early activist organizations such as Gay Liberation Front and *Gay Activists Alliance. The language has become more accurate and inclusive, *though these changes met with initial resistance from some in their own *communities who were unaware of the historical events. Changing first to *Lesbian and Gay, today most are called Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender *(LGBT) or simply "Pride".
NB: All sources and articles provided by Wikipedia, with thanks.
Poster #3: Obama was just inaugurated on Jan. 20, and this is the FIRST Pride month that he's in office and it is NO "small symbolic gesture" in the hearts and minds of thousands of GLBT Americans all but ignored during 8 years of Republican fear-mongering and war-waging.
Is Obama really against gay marriage, or is he in favor of allowing STATES to decide this question on an individual basis - knowing it is much easier for states to change THEIR practices than to try and change the US Constitution?
California is a financial mess right now and once voters have cleaned house in Sacramento (from Schwarzenegger on down!) the pendulum will swing in favor of gay marriage.
a few words are missing under the section: Stonewall....
Please read:
...a large percentage of people who initially fought back were>>> people of colour and drag queens
Obama's declaration of LGBT month was indeed a step in the right direction. But as one of the posters above implied, real change never comes from above. It comes from within. Within ourselves, within our families, within our communities. Ideally, in that order. And when every community deems being gay a non-issue, we won't need presidents to make declarations on our behalf of who we are and what we have accomplished. Everyone will already know. Nor will we need someone to give us rights. We'll have taken them for ourselves.
On the one hand the angelic/enthusiastic who are awed by the fact that an American president could actually make such a declaration.
On the other hand the grumpy/defiant who point out all of what's missing in that declaration, all that still needs to be said and done.
As in a very old and wonderful Sufi story, they are certainly both right, and the impartial observer who says thay CAN'T be both right... is right also, hehehe.
Interestingly the one comment that doesn't seem to fall into either category is the one made by someone who was in the Stonewall bar when the riots started, thank you Michael for your testimony. How acutely aware you must be of the difference between history as it happens and history as it is told, twisted and used henceforth....
Seoulseeker, politician-bashing is easy, utterly common... and completely unproductive. "By definition a politician does not care, he calculates"... wow ! by whose definition may I ask ? does it occur to you that he/she may very well do both ? Care AND calculate because REAL politics (as opposed to ranting, dreaming, sterile wishing and patronizing) are all about compromise.
Compromise between what needs to be done or said, and what CAN actually be done or said in a given context.
Do you know who supports gay marriage should be determined on a state by state basis?
Dick Cheney, ex-VP of USA
Obama may not be able to support same-sex marriage in his capacity as the President, but that's only because he is not able to due to the very large Republican/Christian Right support base in the US and the dangers - including to his life - of doing so at this stage. I don't believe anyone but those closest to him know what his personal views on same sex marriage are; I suspect he is in fact supportive of it.
I wonder how many of his bashers here and elsewhere are willing to lose their jobs and risk their lives (literally) for this issue when even queers themselves won't.
Not that I think queer activists should be letting up on their advocacy for the issue, but in a strongly two party dominant system such as the US is, the focus of queer activists should more greatly be on changing the views of the US electorate and less on the Administration.
What President Obama is definitely doing that no other previous President, Democrat or Republican, has done is to create the capacity in the American electorate right now for future support by the American public for same sex marriage. That's just about the only thing he can do right now in his capacity as the President.
Less than six months into his presidency and already he has accomplished that much. I say he's already done a fantastic job!
This being said, when a republic issues bank notes with 'In God we trust' printed on each and all of them, I doubt that separation of Church and State can prevail in its decision-making process.
There was little difference at the beginning of their lives between a Martin Luther King, a Jessy Jackson and a Billy Graham but at the end of the road the greatness in one, the good in the second and the erroneous path of the third one that G.W.Bush, alas, chose to follow. Religion may feed some, for others it remains the opium of the masses.
If ignorance is bliss, then bears don't shit in the woods !!!
This being said, when a republic issues bank notes with 'In God we trust' printed on each and all of them, I doubt that separation of Church and State can prevail in its decision-making process.
There was little difference at the beginning of their lives between a Martin Luther King, a Jessy Jackson and a Billy Graham but at the end of the road the greatness in one, the good in the second and the erroneous path of the third one that G.W.Bush, alas, chose to follow. Religion may feed some, for others it remains the opium of the masses.
If ignorance is bliss, then bears don't shit in the woods !!!
all others pay CASH!
lighten up...it's only a website. it's only a website. it's only a website.
The problem is... when we adress those issues, we always come up with rational arguments (what else could we dig up anyway?)...but presenting rational arguments to religious fanatics is a bit like trying to teach Latin to a horse. A horse is not stupid, or bad, or lazy. It just can't learn Latin because... it's a horse.
Now it's outdated, I agree, but let's not forget the context. Politics and sociology are meaningless if you don't take the time factor into account.
I would also like to add that the somewhat heroic vision implied in your phrase "willing to fight and even die for their country" is in all likelihood very far remote from reality.
In professional armies, people join first and foremost because of the salary, the early retirement and numerous other perks including the fact that you don't get laid off as easily as in other jobs. Idealism is not the key factor, whether we like it or not - and personnally I much prefer it that way, because patriotism seems to me almost as foolish and dangerous as, say, religious fundamentalism.
The risk of dying is taken into account but it's de-dramatized by the human ability to believe that it happens only to others, lol.
Maybe I should clarify that there is a difference between RELIGION vs PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY lol.
You really gt me cracking up on this line lol...nt so much for the fact that it's funny...bt because of its startling accuracy. XD
As for the poster above me #36, aren't you the one who made a succinct comment on the China censorship article? You sound like a totally different person here...or do you have different personalities living inside you? That's creepy...personally I think Barack Obama's been doing a great job so far & don't see any reason to serve him any bile...unless, of course, one happens to be vicious or inherantly spiteful like Kim Jung Il. Or Osama bin Laden. Hey, speaking of which...didn't that fella make yet another (yawn) tape belittling Obama whom he infamously called a 'house negro'?
Bottom line is, Obams'a a politician, not a saint, so I won't expect 100% perfection in his character or motives. People around the world have suffered much fr pessimism & human self-righteousness, so let's try to be less negative & remember- one small good deed is better than a thousand noble intentions.
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