News
2004-09-14
The Advocate.com
Let's Unify on October 8th
Dale Duncan
“Let’s Unify on October 8th”
Op-Ed by Dale Duncan
“Boycott for Equality” has created an opportunity on October 8th for our community and our allies to unite
and drop out of the economy for the day. By participating together, we have the chance to feel that sense
of empowerment that occurs when people join forces to stand for something.
The year was 1994. I was competing at the Sportaerobics Competition at the Gay Games in New York City.
The room was filled with hundreds of my gay and lesbian family. I was an experienced competitive athlete
who had dealt with all kinds of crazy emotions before, during and after competitions. This time, however, I
found myself overcome with uncharted emotions as I approached the stage. “Why was this happening,” I
asked myself? After my two-minute routine was over, the incredible warmth of the audience members was
overwhelming. Their response wasn’t because I was the best athlete; I noticed that they reacted that way
for everyone who competed that day. The energy in the room was so cohesive that it was tangible and
unforgettable. I can still recall the moment vividly.
When people truly come together in body and spirit and experience something, the results are palpable
and powerful. I didn’t win the gold medal at that event as I had in previous competitions, but I definitely
felt IT. Whatever IT was, I knew IT was there. I couldn’t really measure or quantify what made those
moments at that event so special, but there is no doubt that everyone in the room felt IT: the connection,
the unity, the support, and the feeling that we were all “one”.
Appropriately, the organizers of the event labeled those Gay Olympics the “Unity Games”.
I have long since hung up my aerobic shoes, but now, I thirst for that feeling of unity I experienced that
day for a different reason. I want it on a much larger and much more important scale. Because we can be
fired in 36 states just for being gay, we must unify. Because we face a president who wants to write
discrimination into the constitution of the United States, we must unify. Because gays and lesbians in
numerous states face votes that will place a ban on same sex marriage in their state constitutions, we
must unify. Because many right wing organizations across the United States use our issues to make
money for their organizations, we must unify.
Because throughout history in our country, when minorities have stood up against oppression in a unified
way, people have taken notice and the process of change accelerated.
We have the opportunity on October 8th to feel that empowerment as a community.
Our people can be a cynical group. When opportunities like these arise, many people will attempt to shoot
it down. To borrow the words of Barbara Streisand, they will “rain on the parade.” I believe that the time
for cynicism has past. We can no longer afford the luxury of it. There is too much at stake. There is no
one who can deny that if a majority of GLBT citizens and one of their straight allies dropped out on
October 8th, we would have a powerful and mighty impact.
But the only real questions are: Will we unify? Do we have the courage? Will we make the sacrifice?
As I tell the students in my middle school chorus classroom when I teach new music, “Someone needs to
step up to the plate and lead”. Do not wait for permission from your group of friends to participate in this
event. Be a leader. We all know the power that we could have by dropping out for the day, IF we all do it.
Most of us can walk through the halls of our workplace and not be noticed. Essentially, our “gayness” is
invisible. It isn’t like having a different skin color than other people. On October 8th, we have the
opportunity to turn that invisibility into power. On October 8th, we can be invisible and truly experience
cohesion as a community and work towards making a difference with it rather than using the invisibility to
hide.
Do we want to wait until something is taken away from us, like recently occurred in Missouri, to take
action? I hope not. We have more people from Missouri who have “Made the Pledge” to participate on
October 8th than from any other state. They are motivated because they have lost something. The pain is
fresh.
We have an opportunity on October 8th to create the unity that will show America that we are serious
about gaining full civil liberties in this country. We can certainly unify for one 24-hour period. At 12:01
AM on Saturday morning October 9th, lets have all the bars across the United States have a post “dropout”
celebration and let’s go there and spend our money. On 10/9, as a way to illustrate our unity, let’s
patronize those GLBT businesses that close on 10/8, showing our appreciation for their sacrifice.
Many of us sit around and bitch and moan about how the politicians are harming us or how our families
don’t accept us or how we can’t get married. That bitching and moaning hasn’t, and won’t change a
single policy.
If you stay home on October 8th, you can bitch and moan all day and actually have the possibility that you
might have some impact toward making things change.
October 8th is the day—the day we can come together with power, presence and pride.
Let’s unify.
Dale Duncan
Founder, Boycott for Equality
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