The civil rights movement of the 1990s

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew

Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a communist

and then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist

and then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me

--pastor Niemoeller (victim of the Nazis)

In the 1920's, Germany had a gay culture similar to that that we have today in America. There was a thriving civil rights movement, numerous periodicals and literature, and a general acceptance in German society. In 1925 Berlin had more gay clubs than New York does today. In less than a generation, all of this was utterly destroyed in the concentration camps of National Socialism.

There is certainly no risk of something like this ever happening in America, right? After all, we have come a long way in the last 30 years. The police do not raid our meeting places, our civil rights are slowly being recognized around the country, we are becoming part of the American culture in the open. We are acknowledged as a social and political force. Love is winning over hate, right?

Why, then is bigotry against gays still condoned by large chunks of the American public? Why is the suicide rate for gay teens over 400% higher than for straight teens? Why can the fact that you love someone of the same gender lead to the risk of you being fired from your job or evicted from your apartment? Why can you not marry the person you love? Why do certain organizations spend untold millions of dollars on sophisticated propaganda campaigns to demonize us as morally weak predators and outcasts?

Fundamentally, the fight for gay civil rights is the fight for America. It is the most patriotic of movements, the fight to put credence into such noble phrases as "equality under the law" and "the rights to life, liberty and the persuit of happiness." We are following in the footsteps of those who came before us, the ordinary citizens who traveled to Mississippi at the risk of their lives to fight for equality for African Americans, the women who were arrested for trying to exercise their right to vote, and all others who fought to make America truly the land of the free.

It is time to stand up for our rights, come out, and turn out.

    "Burst down those closet doors
    once and for all, and stand up,
    and start to fight!"
    --Harvey Milk

  • Frequently Asked Questions for TurnOUT!
  • Roberts' Rules...the progress we have made!
  • A Letter to the Radical Right