News

2004-09-08

Tolerance.org

Speaking Up By Dropping Out

Carrie Kilman

Speaking Up By Dropping Out

By Carrie Kilman | Staff Writer, Tolerance.org

Sept. 8, 2004 -- On Feb. 24, 2004, President George W. Bush stepped up to a bank of microphones, stared into the television cameras and asked Congress to "promptly" amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

That evening, Dale Duncan, a 40-year-old public-school music teacher in Atlanta, sat with his partner in their bedroom and stared at the television screen.

"That moment was profound for us," he said, six months later. "I remember it like it was yesterday. I couldn't speak. My partner couldn't speak. There was a profound sadness in the house. The president (held a press conference) specifically to say the Constitution should be rewritten to discriminate against us."

Six days later, Duncan and his partner began planning the Boycott For Equality. Next month, they hope to replace the silence — and the sadness — with action.

On Oct. 8, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer and questioning community, along with their straight allies, will protest anti-LGBTQ policies in a one-day boycott of the U.S. economy.

Participating in the Boycott For Equality is simple: Stay home from work, don't make any purchases and turn off your cell phone. Not by coincidence, the boycott falls two days before the 16th annual National Coming Out Day.

"We want to say to people all over America that we are here and we contribute," Duncan said. "By pulling out of the economy for a day, we hope we can have a huge impact."

Invisible no more
An estimated 27 million lesbians and gays live in America (a figure does not exist that includes bisexual and transgendered Americans). They boost the national economy by about $500 billion each year, or $1.4 billion each day, according to a 2003 Witeck-Combs/Harris Interactive study. Yet, compliant with federal, state and local laws, the LGBTQ population faces widespread discrimination.

"Many people don't think they know someone who's gay or lesbian," Duncan said. "We can walk down the halls of our workplace without anyone knowing. We can be invisible if we choose to be — or if we need to be."

Too often, he said, this invisibility makes it easier for communities to dismiss the unequal treatment of LGBTQ residents. In 36 states, Duncan noted, an employee can be fired for being gay; in 49 states, same- sex couples cannot marry.

"We hope with the boycott to start conversations with people who haven't had them before," Duncan said. "We hope this will be another reason for people to think differently about how they view (the LGBTQ community)."

Communities with a prominent LGBTQ presence often are more supportive of public policies that give sexual orientations equal treatment. Five recent polls, for example, found that more than 50% of Massachusetts residents support legalizing same-sex marriage. A similar poll in Alabama found that 80% of Alabamians oppose same-sex marriage, and 64% favor a federal constitutional amendment to ban it.

Targeting marriage
The boycott's primary targets are state and federal lawmakers who support these discriminatory public policies. At the heart of the boycott — indeed, the stimulus for its conception — is the issue of same-sex marriage.

The 2000 U.S. Census recorded 600,000 same-sex households. Disproving the myth that same-sex couples live predominantly in cosmopolitan centers, the Census found same-sex households in all but 23 U.S. counties.

Because of laws banning same-sex marriage, these couples fail to receive the 1,138 federal benefits linked to marital status, as recorded earlier this year by the General Accounting Office — benefits like domestic violence protections, nutrition services for the elderly, and education assistance for the families of public safety officers killed in the line of duty.

While strides toward equality have been made — most notably the 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that declared same-sex marriage a constitutional right — national polls indicate the nation is deeply divided over same-sex marriage and any constitutional amendment to ban it.

Religion and partisan rhetoric often cloud the legal debate, Duncan said, "but money talks. When we drop out of the economy for a day, we can get people to listen. We hope lawmakers will pay attention."

Will it work?
Prominent groups like the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and The Advocate endorse the Boycott For Equality; however, some gay-rights activists question whether the boycott will work.

In a Sept. 2 Sacramento Bee article, several activists questioned how the boycott's impact will be measured and whether it will actually harm gay-owned businesses.

"The upcoming elections are our primary focus," said Dan Roth, whose organization, the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento, decided not to participate in the boycott. "We'll be using Oct. 8 to campaign for (Democratic presidential nominee John) Kerry. That may be a more productive use of our energy and time."

The boycott, Duncan acknowledged, is symbolic. Using it as a vehicle for raising awareness, he said, is just as important as having a measurable economic impact. However, to mitigate any negative effect on businesses that support the boycott by closing their doors, organizers are encouraging participants to go shopping the following day.

On Oct. 8, Duncan plans to stay home from his middle-school music room. While he has the support of his principal, he's decided not to explain to his students the reason for his absence "because it's such a sensitive issue."

"My partner said to me, 'What if we fail?'" Duncan said. "And I said, 'You know, so what? We have to try.' I think the time for cynicism is over. We need to be united." Contact us for permission to reprint this article. Please include the name of the article in your request.

>> DO SOMETHING
Pledge your support for the Oct. 8 Boycott For Equality and join others in the one-day boycott.

>> DIG DEEPER
:: Check out the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Marriage Information Center to learn more about the fight for equal marriage rights.

:: Find out whether your state has current or pending laws related to gay marriage in Stateline.org's 50- State Rundown of Gay Marriage Laws.

:: Read the president's Feb. 24th statement in support of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

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