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“GAY AFFLUENCE,” from p.16
people to understand that there are bigger things to be had — social and economic justice or even liberation.” Hollibaugh said issues of economic class are at play in the failure of a broader vision. “If the most visible part of community is relatively well-resourced — not struggling — and they build the advocacy agenda, then homelessness, health insurance, and housing become secondary issues,” she said. “It’s not like the Task Force or Pride Agenda hasn't done something specific [around economic justice], but it has to be consistently imbedded in all the work you do. Until LGBTQ groups start saying that capitalism is the problem, not the solution, economic justice is unlikely to be a priority issue.” New York’s leading LGBT advocacy lobby, the Empire State Pride Agenda, pointed to both its top goal in Albany and its overall mission state-
FALSE ARREST, from p.30
ing two of the three other lesbian and gay members of the Council — the Lower East Side’s Rosie Mendez and Jimmy Van Bramer of Sunnyside. John Blasco, the lead organizer at FIERCE, an advocacy group made up of LGBT youth of color, questioned a central tenet of the response to the recent wave of vio-
PEACE BLOG, from p.91
politics. I’m happier here in this bar; it’s more of “The People.” Those saltof-the-earth, surveillance-complacent knuckleheads. I’m sorry I was abusive to you, Peace Blog. It’s just that it hurts to find out the NSA has been reading you and now knows what an idiot I am. Or do I flatter myself that the NSA is at all interested in or threatened by my obsessive scribbling for radical change? I can just see some government hacktivist rolling his (or her!) eyes in derisive condescension at the pathetic grandiosity with which I am even now typing in you. Let’s get drunk. WHOA Peace Blog — I must’ve stared for two hours at that dead wor m at the bottom of that tequila bottle. At first, I couldn’t believe what Wormy was telling me to do: that I had to go buy an iPad. But I did. And I feel so much better! You look so pretty on this iPad, Peace Blog! See how your “pages”
June 26, 2013 | www.gaycitynews.com
ment when asked about the breadth of its efforts. “Our statewide legislative prior ity, the Gender Expr ession NonDiscrimination Act (GENDA), would help address some of these problems by making it illegal to fire someone or throw them out of their home just for being transgender,” said George Simpson, an ESPA spokesman, in an email message. “Likewise, our advocacy for better funding for LGBT health and human services primarily impacts members of our community who are at an economic disadvantage, such as seniors and homeless youth. Marriage, too, offers protections and economic security that are even more critical for people with limited resources. It’s important to show the true face of the community, because this myth of an affluent minority does a disservice to our movement.” While Simpson was unable to provide specific examples of ESPA getting behind basic economic justice
issues such as the minimum wage, healthcare refor m, or progressive taxation — despite the support that group and other top LGBT organizations get from unions and others that do prioritize these issues — he pointed to the mission statement spelled out on its website that pledges support of "common struggles for equality and justice" with allies in "other marginalized groups," including a commitment to "break down barriers based on class and economic status." ESPA has been involved in the coalition working for the Women’s Equality Act in Albany, and has led a wide range of groups pressing for greater funding of runaway and homeless youth needs. The Human Rights Campaign, the leading gay lobby group in Washington, did not return a call and email asking about its involvement in economic justice beyond an LGBT“-specific agenda. Asked her view of the path for -
ward, Hollibaugh said, “The places I am looking are places that have onthe-ground constituencies that are already impacted, like SAGE or in the labor movement, that will help move the queer piece — rather than GLAAD or the Victory Fund.” SAGE’s Adams emphasized the importance of coalition in addressing the full breadth of issues affecting LGBT communities. "There is no question that if we want to address disproportionate pove rty among L GBT pe ople, including LGBT older adults, it will be incumbent upon LGBT organizations to step out to advocate on issues that have not been seen as LGBT -specific issues,” he wrote in an email message. “For example, for LGBT older adults it’s very important that SAGE and other organizations actively support the defense of Social Security and Medicare, which are under increasing assault. That’s what coalition is all about.”
l e n c e a i m e d a t q u e e r N e w Yo r k ers — the assignment of additional police in neighborhoods frequented by community members. “What makes anyone think more police would make us feel safe?,” Blasco asked. “For most of us, that creates fear.” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, an out lesbian who prevailed on the NYPD to increase its visibility
in LGBT neighborhoods, he said, has to do more to consult with community members. Others on hand for the press conference included Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams, who is spearheading the drive for a package of police refor m measures, Robert Pinter, who launched the Campaign to Stop the False Arrests after he was falsely convicted of prostitution at a
Manhattan video store in 2008, and representatives of Streetwise and Safe, CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, and the Safe OUTside the System Collective of the Audre Lorde Project. NY 1 News reported that Kelly said he had reviewed the video and the incident was under review by both Internal Affairs and the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
“flip,” just like the pages of that $5.95 paper diary I tossed out in 1992 when I bought my first computer? I mean, if Marshall McLuhan was right and the medium really is the message, who cares what I write — as long as nifty media like this let
have been listening to me; (b) I have absolutely no control over anything. But it’s OK! I shall surrender myself to my higher power. The NSA. I have gone to the mountaintop and returned with this glowing iPad of Truth. I now declare the National Security Agency to be One with the millennia-old Judeo-Christian deity commonly known as God. God has domain names, IP addresses, and a terrible, swift carbon footprint. Henceforth, I shall write “God” and “NSA” inter changeably; I shall worship them as One. It just makes sense, Peace Blog, in that they both do so much monitoring. But that’s good, since they want to save us from the malware of terrorism. I feel blessed, Peace Blog. Blessed that the NSA watches over me,
unworthy wretch though I be. It’s all part of God’s plan that I must accept. Because, like any good person, I have nothing to hide. And because everything God does is legal. It’s like I’m downloading and installing a fr ee update of moral s o f t w a r e f o r We s t e r n C u l t u r e . There’s only One Commandment: Thou Shalt Stay Logged On. Yes, much like theologian Paul Tillich’s belief that “sin is separation,” with the NSA, the only real transgression is being off the Grid. Privacy, schmivacy, Peace Blog. Who cares if the NSA knows I’m standing in line at the needle exchange? If I’m a documented American, I’m free! So I forgive you, Peace Blog. Because, like that worm in the tequila bottle, ultimately we’re all going to end up transpar ent, inert, and just lying there. I know I am. Why? Because I’m afraid to fight the power? No. Because I have a new iPad. And as long as there’s another electronic miracle to buy on credit, my life will be an open book.
Now I see that: (a) largely because people have been listening to me, (b) I have absolutely no control over anything. me write on them! See, all my life, Peace Blog, I’ve been addicted to the idea that: (a) if people would only listen to me; (b) I could stop injustice. So untrue. Now I see that: (a) largely because people