Civil Rights 101

Tomorrow is the 40th Anniversary of The Stonewall Riots.

I am going to assume that anyone reading the kyle+blog knows what that means, but just in case, a very short primer. Being a homo was illegal. Language is hard here , because as someone who considers himself to be post gay, thinking pre Stonewall is a hard mindset to jump into. Let's just say you run into a pal walking down the street, ya'll have not seen each other since Ted's very dull birthday part a month ago, and have lots of gossip to catch up on. There is a bar on the corner, you decide to pop in , have a nice cold beer and catch up. You could go to jail, with your name in the papers and lose your family and job. JUST for sitting in a bar. Let it sink in... re-read it if you have too.

"Well.. why didn't black folks just drink out of any water fountain they darn well pleased?" or " Why did the homosexuals fight back ? " Done and done. 

This is not my " How Pride is Important" posting.. or even my " Stonewall at 40" one. This is about Monday. The day after the cake and balloons ( and leather hot pants and sequined headdresses and bright pink jock straps) This is about the future.

There is a must read op-ed in the Times today  : THE REAL MOB AT STONEWALL.

"A prominent Stonewall myth holds that the riots were an uprising by the gay community against decades of oppression. This would be true if the “gay community” consisted of Stonewall patrons. The bar’s regulars, though, were mostly teenagers from Queens, Long Island and New Jersey, with a few young drag queens and homeless youths who squatted in abandoned tenements on the Lower East Side.

I was there on the Saturday and Sunday nights when the Village’s established gay community, having heard about the incidents of Friday night, rushed back from vacation rentals on Fire Island and elsewhere. Although several older activists participated in the riots, most stood on the edges and watched.

Many told me they were put off by the way the younger gays were taunting the police — forming chorus lines and singing, “We are the Stonewall girls, we wear our hair in curls!” Many of the older gay men lived largely closeted lives, had careers to protect and years of experience with discrimination. They believed the younger generation’s behavior would lead to even more oppression."

Sound a little bit familiar?

The homo powers that be.. the ones that raised the ONE MILLION DOLLARS for the DNC this week are parked out on LOVELY Fire Island with a pina colada at the freaking Botel, while the work is being done online and at the grass roots. " Stonewall" would never have happened if left up to the HRC. That is just a fact, not judging. Just think about it HRC and all the other lettered groups have a power base to defend, and a big ass budget. Rocking the boat, or trashing a grimy gay bar could upset that... and well.. those Fire Island Summer Rentals don't come cheap!!  ( Good thing my VERY good pal owns a house there already....) ALL the major gay players were at the get go, against the Ted Olsen/David Boies case out in sunny California, some are coming around, but gosh darn it , it was rocking the boat and cutting into their tea dance - or moments spent at the White House - time! SOME have come around.. but too slowly.

Many think that 40 years is a lifetime.. others a flash in the pan, either way... at 40, its time for the GAY LIBERATION MOVEMENT to grow up. Move out of its parents basement, and take on some responsibility. Thank you very much, HRC, GLAAD, and the rest. You have done a good job. Now let a new generation, a new way of thinking a new way of organization take over. Don't throw the size 13 Manolo out with the bath water, just learn to listen to the voices that are out there. Believe that we are all on the same side... stop defending your little fiefdoms and get on with the work at hand.

GOODNESS, but we have come a long, long way in 40 years... but miles and miles left to travel....