30 Days of Pride

By Joshua A. Boschee
Staff Writer

I’ve just returned from a long, fun-filled weekend in Minneapolis to be a part of Twin Cities Pride. It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. The weekend was filled with beautiful days in Loring Park, good food, great music and dancing, and networking with other community leaders and activists. Besides LGBT leaders and activists, the parade was filled with representatives from Minnesota employers, inclusive community organizations and churches, local celebrities and of course politicians. Kathy Griffin was amazing and I even ran into Ross Matthews (Ross the Intern from Jay Leno and a Chelsey Lately regular) a few times in the VIP lounge.
This year’s celebration coincided with the national assembly for the Unitarian Universalist Church, which brought hundreds of UU folks to the festival who hosted a Standing on the Side of Love rally conveniently near anti-gay Christian protesters. Twin Cities Pride is one of the largest Pride celebrations in the U.S., with over 200,000 people attending last year. With such a large celebration, the true diversity of the LGBT community throughout the upper Midwest was apparent and beautiful to see.

I am often asked, “What is Pride?” In the simplest terms it is a celebration that is put together by the community to celebrate the accomplishments of the LGBT community and to remind our members that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to gain full equality. The celebrations come in all sizes and happen throughout the entire year.

Twin Cities Pride was last weekend, along with many of the major Prides throughout the world, in honor of the Stonewall Riots that occurred 40 years ago in New York City. At that time, it was common for police to go into gay bars (or bars that gay and/or transgender people frequented) to arrest patrons. One evening, the New York City police entered the Stonewall Bar and were greeted by some fed-up transgender people and gay men. The bar patrons resisted arrest and fought back. Word spread quickly and the following day, thousands of LGBT people and their allies marched in the streets of New York demanding that the bar raids end, and that LGBT people be treated with respect.

Fast forward to 2010 and we find ourselves still marching in the streets of towns large and small, urban and rural, throughout the United States demanding full equality. However, we are seeing progress at a much faster rate due to the hard work of LGBT people and our allies over the past four decades. Here are just a few things that have occurred in the last 30 days.

For the second year, President Obama signed a Presidential Executive Order declaring June LGBT Pride Month. He noted at the White House event attended by LGBT staffers, allies, activists, community leaders and elected officials that his administration has appointed more openly LGBT people to executive and judicial appointments than the previous administration. This is notable in the fact that President Obama is reminded on a daily basis of the impact that current policies, laws, and practices have on LGBT Americans.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to be a leader for LGBT equality in the government by creating and adopting inclusive changes to State Department policies. Earlier this month, President Obama approved her proposal that allows Americans to declare their gender identity on their passport, without having to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

The conversation continues and has heated up on Capitol Hill with regard to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, with the House of Representatives passing an amendment that allows the President, Secretary Gates, and military leaders to approve the repeal following the release of a study of the military later this year. A Senate vote is anticipated for mid to late July.

The closing arguments were heard in California’s Proposition 8 trial. The judge is currently sequestered and many judicial experts expect him to support Proposition 8 challengers’ argument that putting minority rights to a vote is unconstitutional. If successful, this particular argument sets a precedent for the many states that have had voters enact Constitutional Amendments that limit marriage rights to heterosexual couples, North Dakota being one of those states. Whatever the judge rules, the losing party will ask the Supreme Court to overturn the judge’s ruling.

Employers throughout the nation are continuing to adopt inclusive policies that positively impact LGBT Americans and their families. Of note, for employers in our community, FedEx will be providing same-sex domestic partner benefits at the beginning of 2012.

Pretty good for just under 30 days of work. I look forward to seeing what the next 30, 90 and 300 days bring.

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