Injustice continues because we promote it with our silence
The questions being asked are "How can this injustice be fought? How can people be educated? How can the lies of the Religious Right be exposed?"
In answer to "What can we do?" I offer the following. We can look at ourselves as the solution, rather than hoping others will change. Our own transformtion is the basic tenent of soul force principles, and yet we continue to focus on what others are doing, with them being "the problem." I feel it is time we applied the same "criteria" to our own community that we do to others who we feel are not welcoming and inclusive of us. Why do we ask more of others than we do of ourselves? We ask others to take risks that many of our own community are unwilling to take. It is time to call our own GLBTA (yes allies too) community into accountability in the same way that we are calling society to accountability.
What I can tell you that we continue to learn from our journey, Gay Into Straight America, is that the power lies with US, not THEM. Our "fear of their fear" is larger within our GLBTA community (yes, allies too) than the "fear in them about us" that actually exits. We have not yet encountered one situation where people are "against" us. It is time for us to accept that the people to whom we focus so much energy on, although very vocal, are STILL a minority. If we mobilize our GLBT community in addition to the movable middle, we constitute a vocal majority, not a vocal minority. Too many of our potential vocal majority (including our own GLBT community) continue to remain silent and complacent, content to point fingers at "others," those we feel are the conservative bigots. Misguided energy folks! Roby and I feel that most of the people in our community continue to focus in the wrong direction for the solution. Many of us are looking "out there" to others for our empowerment and freedom, when the freedom we are searching for is available "within." When we accept 100% responsibility for creating the life we want, then we will shift and respond in new ways. That in turn will create the shifts in others that we are seeking. It won't happen the other way around. History shows that the courts usually lead the way, and that society lags behind. We are part of that society that lags behind. Let us each be a force to move it forward. Take a look at the article I wrote for the Soulforce website, and remember to "Stand UP Speak OUT...WE are the solution."
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