‘ September 1987, Page 5

Boston Civil Disobedience Task Force - VISION STATEMENT

Statement published by the Boston Civil
Disobedience Task Force for Lesbian/Gay
Rights.

VISION STATEMENT

We are lesbians and gay men. We have
been building our communities, affirming our
sexuality, uncovering how vital we are to the
world we live in. Silencing, stereotypes,
distortions and lies will not stop us. We
are out and we are outraged. We are not
going back.

We gather October 13, 1987, at the
Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. By its
actions in Bowers v. Hardwick, the Court
embraces a legacy of prejudice. The
decision’s immediate effects are obvious:
having sex makes us criminals. What might
be less obvious are its broader effects. This
decision denies our humanity and subjects us
to degradation, harassment, and violence. It
hinders our struggle for basic -civil rights,
housing, health care, and employment. It
makes it difficult, if not impossible, to retain
custody of our children, and to provide
foster and adoptive homes. By upholding
repression against gay men and lesbians, the
bigoted opinion of Justices White, Burger,
Rehnquist, 0’Connor, and Powell extends
our country's most shameful legacy: its
failure to support human dignity. This

legacy includes the genocide of native
peoples, slavery, denial of the vote to
women and Blacks, segregation and

back-alley abortions. At the same time, the
struggle in this country to uphold human
dignity has created a legacy of its own. In
this tradition we are here to fight for our
liberation. _

The Supreme Court will not stop our
loving, living, struggling, and coming out.

from page 4 Why I plan to march

I'm going to Washington because of the
millions of lesbian and gay Americans who
can’t take the chance to go, who still pay
the terrible price of the closet, of
discrimination, of internalized homophobia.
I want to be there for all the folks who
can’t be there.

I'm going to march because I know it
will be fun; spirits will be high, the event
will be colorful, there will be plenty of
people to meet and get to know, and I
know that we know how to have a good
time. I

I’m going to Washington because I know

that one voice alone has so much less
impact than hundreds of thousands together,
I want the empowerment that comes from
the strength of such numbers. I also know
that there is only one way to build a crowd
of that size - - one person at a time.

I’m going to Washington in October
because I want to be a part of history.

To be lesbian or gay in some states today is
to be labeled a criminal and risk arrest; to
openly acknowledge that identity is to
commit civil disobedience, which is the open
breaking of unjust laws. We challenge any
law that denies our humanity. We challenge
any institution that contributes to that
denial. We choose collective non-violent
civil disobedience to demonstrate the anger
and determination of our community.

Merely to step in protest onto the steps

of this enormous structure is to commit civil
disobedience. The significance of this small
denial of our voice lies in its connection to
the larger injustice. We act together so we
cannot be defeated one by one. We act in
the tradition of the labor movement, the
suffragist movement, the civil rights
movement, the women’s movement, the
anti-war movement, and in solidarity with
Central Americans and Black South Africans
fighting for self-determination. Through
these movements we have learned that
substantial gains come through prolonged
and persistent direct action.

We take the power that emerges as we
confront our fears, name the truth and claim
the validity of our own lives. We call this
non-violent action. The tradition of
non-violence is marked by the strength of
people who have acted with courage to defy
those who would silence or destroy them,
never compromising their own humanity or
that of their adversaries. We refuse to be
silent, isolated, or invisible. We can be
threatened with violence but we will still be
gay. We can be locked in jail but we will
still be lesbian.

We are high-school students and
grandmothers, rabbis and bikers, prisoners
and activists, drag-queens and secretaries,
softball players and church-goers. We are
artists, mechanics, teachers, and unemployed.
Our differences of race and physical ability,
culture and politics, class and age bring
together perspectives and experience that
enrich our struggle for change.

Some of us are people with AIDS. The
AIDS epidemic, while striking every part of
society, has had a profound impact on the
gay male community. As more of our
friends are diagnosed, we see that this
country's response to AIDS is shockingly
inadequate. Testing takes priority over
treatment, bigotry blocks funding, censorship
prevents education, quarantine threatens
caretaking. Because the disease has
particularly affected Latinos, Blacks, and gay
men, many in the U.S. have been content to
sit by and let us die. Further, AIDS has
been used to fuel the fires of homophobia,
leading to even more harassment and
gay-bashing. Yet, in response to hatred and
tragedy, gay men and lesbians have led the
way in confronting the crisis with intelligence
and compassion. We care for the sick,
grieve for the dying, fight for the living. In
the face of bigotry and AIDS, gay men and

lesbians set an example of love and healing
for all.

Lesbians and gay men have come
together from distinct communities.
Lesbians have often been unrecognized
within the gay movement, just as all women
have been excluded from full participation
and acknowledgement in a society in which
men are dominant. We affirm our passion
and lust for each other. By our existence,
we subvert the male claim to ownership of
women and male definitions of female
identity. We defy traditional perceptions of
women as passive and asexual. We have
been at the forefront of the women’s
movement and other movements for justice,
sometimes at the expense of our own
identity. We will continue to call attention
to the interconnectedness of all issues,
including our own, and celebrate our
lesbianism. We have insisted that personal
life is political. We know that confronting
our own prejudices and being aware of how
we treat each other is vital to our
effectiveness and unity.

Lesbians and gay men stand together at
the Supreme Court in non-violent civil
disobedience because we demand the right
to love peacefully, as we choose. The
persecution of any group undermines the
dignity and liberty of all, and especially puts
other vulnerable groups in danger. We too
are affected by rising racism and sexism.
We realize that "none of us will be free
until we are all free." Our liberation is
intrinsically linked to the struggles against
racism, sexism, and anti-semitism. Our
freedom is linked to the rights of autonomy
of indigenous peoples of every continent.
For native Americans, Columbus Day
memorialized the beginning of almost 500
years of destruction and genocide. We
demand an end to all social, economic,
judicial, and legal oppression of people of
every race, age, gender, transgenderal
orientation, ability, class, ethnicity, faith,
political ideology, and sexual orientation.
Lesbians and gay men have been part of all
movements for justice. Now we call upon
all of those fighting these injustices to join
us in our struggle for love, life, and
liberation.

For more information about the National
March On Washington for Lesbian[Gav
Rights contact:

M. O. W.

c/0 V L G R

Box 281

Hinesburg, VT 05461

or call (802) 864-3617

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