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Sharing America; A Response to
the Christian Coalition
by Norm Kent
March 18, 1997
We gather here today, under a warm spring sun, to assert a fundamentally simple but nevertheless elegant principal of American justice; we gather here today to remind those inside the air-conditioned convention center that we who are outside are America and Americans, too.
We are here to say that we share America. We share it as educators and engineers, soldiers and students, working men and professional women. We share it as republicans and democrats, blacks and whites, rich and poor, old and young. We are here to say to the congregations within, that together we who stand outside are every bit the persons you are -except perhaps that we wear better clothes.
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Reverend Kennedy,
You have said that we are not normal.
You have written that we are perverted.
You have preached that we are America’s worst nightmare.
You declare that we have a radical agenda.
You say we are trying to destroy families.
You do not want us in the military.
You do not want us teaching.
You do not want us to adopt.
You do not want to have to employ us.
You do not want to allow gay marriages.
And then you try to tell America that you are a wonderfully tolerant church and that you really love us; that you hate the sin, but love the sinner. SIN THIS!
Reverend Kennedy, let me say here and now, on behalf of all those present, we do not need, and we do not want, that kind of love or that kind of tolerance. The truth is that you do not want us anywhere - unless we are silent and quiet, invisible and closeted. Unless we ride the back of the bus.
Well, we are here to echo again a theme we have been articulating for years. We are everywhere. So deal with it. Get used to it. Because we are not going anywhere. And we might even be moving in next door.
We come here today, March 18, 1995, to say that the dark days and decades of discrimination against homosexuals and lesbians are over.
That is why we gather today in the sun; that is why we care. We care because while eight commonwealths in the United States of America outlaw gay-based discrimination, 42 more do not.
Scores of cities, instead of passing gay-rights protections are moving toward equal-rights restrictions - because those reactionaries inside that convention center are nationally spreading a message or moral wrong. So that is why, under this hot sun, we care enough to be heard.
We care because we are tired of decades of legal oppression and state sponsored discrimination. After a lifetime of never having any rights - we are enraged, and rightly so, at now being told we are seeking special rights.
It is not a special right to be able to secure housing without being discriminated against.
It is not a special right because you ask not to be fired from your job in the daytime because of whom you sleep with in the nighttime.
It is not a special right for the law to let you raise your won child if you are the better and more fit parent.
It is not a special right to serve in the military on behalf of your country. It is a fundamental right of every American.
As Leonard Matlovich write on his epitaph: "The Army: they gave me a medal for killing two men but threw me out for loving one." Let me say on behalf of all of us that if our love is unfashionable, let us live unfashionably.
We are not creating special rights for citizens. We are not seeking equal rights for all citizens. We are not asking to take rights away from heterosexuals. We are asking only that the same rights which protect their lifestyle protect ours as well.
It is those inside that hall that are seeking the right to exclude us because of who we are. They are the ones who are seeking a special status. They want the right to shut us out. And we have come here today to say no way. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever again.
They want the right to reclaim America for Christ; we want only the opportunity to share America for all. And, by the way, just who are they reclaiming America from? From us? I don’t think so. I didn’t know we ever had it. Must of passed me right by. I’ll tell you something. We are only seeking to share the same liberties and loves, globally and locally, that all heterosexual couples do - without the fear of being physically bashed, spiritually ridiculed, or socially condemned. Now, I ask you, is that so wrong?
Reverend Kennedy, I will make you a deal: if you will promise not to make me sleep with your wife, I will promise not to make you sleep with my boyfriend.
As we stand here and speak out loud today, I ask you to remember those who could no longer be with us; those who have been taken from us all too soon; those who have voices we can only carry with us in our hearts. Today we speak for them as much as for ourselves. So that is why we care.
Somehow I do not think we can count on those people within that hall to hear the voices of those friends we have lost to AIDS. Do you? Do you?
I did not think so. So it falls upon to fight those who hatefully say AIDS is the result of divine retribution.
Reverend Kennedy, we are here to remind you that if God is indeed an all-knowing and all powerful force, and the same God who made heterosexuals made homosexuals, who are you to attack God’s will?
For those that doubt the depth of our commitment, let them come to the sea of rainbow flags that gather here on this plateau of justice.
Let them know that our voices will grow louder and our spirit will be prouder; that our numbers will grow larger; we are not here because we are victims. I repeat, we are not here because we are victims. We are here because we refuse, we absolutely refuse, to be victimized.
Let the word go forth from this morning that our wrists are not limp, but that our fists are clenched!, And that we will bear any burden, meet any hardship, endure any test, to insure our survival.
We intend to succeed, not recede; be visible, not invisible; prevail, not fail. We may not be welcome in our nation’s military, but we will form a moral force of our won that no law, no legislation, and no political leader will ever defeat.
Our task may not be easy. The days and political battles ahead are hard. The age and time are repressive. We may be fighting a new epidemic - apathy in the highest corridors of congress and closed doors in schools and research centers. So it falls upon us to gather. It falls upon us to care and be heard.
I know that you are tired of the stigmas and the hate and the put-downs and the insults and the bashings.
I know that you don’t want to read anymore about teenagers committing suicide because they are gay, or straight, men justifying homicides because they were approached by someone who was gay.
And I know you want our communities to reach out to young gay men and women and teach them self-esteem instead of self-hate. And in whose world, Reverend Kennedy, will those young gay teenagers get a fairer shake? In whose environment will they be taught self-esteem and self-worth?
It falls upon us to ask for dignity and decency. To ask for understanding, not ignorance; compassion, not cruelty.
America comes together as a society not to restrict the rights of any, but to secure the rights of all. Somehow I think if the Good Lord is truly Christian, I think he can find an itsy bitsy teeny weeny little bit of space for us within His universe. Don’t you?
Somehow I think America is stronger and brighter and more beautiful for having us here. Don’t you?
Somehow I think that we can embrace, we can smile, and we can be proud that our efforts today will make a difference tomorrow. Don’t you?
I feel good. I feel real good. The sea of rainbow flags, like the love we generate make me feel real proud. And again, we are not here this morning because we are victims. We are here because we refuse to be victimized.
So let us say to those who have made our acts of illegal and criminal; to those who have persecuted us in the past and would prosecute us in the present; to those who would silence our voices and shatter our visions, let us say in unison:
We are
not criminals.
I am not a criminal.
You are not criminals.
Those who pass laws against us and our love - they are the criminals. They are the criminals.
Today this community takes notice because we stand here in unity and pride, in friendship and in trust, proving that as gays and lesbians united we do count. Because we understand this is a just cause whose time has come.
So thank you Reverend Kennedy for bringing us all together; for reminding each of us that we all have a lot more in common than we do apart.
Thank you for reminding us how far we have not only come, but how much further we still must go. We have many miles to go before we sleep; and we have many promises yet to keep.
In closing, let me say we will keep those promises, to our friends no longer here and to those who might sill be afraid toe here. Let me say, that while the people within that convention center are building walls, we are outside here building bridges.
So stand firm. Stand tall. Be proud. And remember, when God blesses America, He blesses us too. Thank you
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