[Nyclocal] Pride Not Profits! LGBTIQ Pride Leaflet (for outreach June 2008)

Thu Jan 24 00:24:20 MST 2008

a SPUSA/YPSL flyer for distribution at LGBTI/Queer Pride marches in June 2008?
    here's an example of one put out by a socialist group

      Pride Not Profits!   — Gay Pride Leaflet                
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             E-Mail         This                                                                                                                             Jun 15, 2007                  
By  Katie Quarles                                                                                                                                             A look at gay people on TV and Gay Pride in downtown, sponsored by big  corporations, not facing the kind of harassment that gays have faced in  the past, could make it seem like homophobia and discrimination are a  thing of the past. However the everyday reality for most lesbian, gay,  bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people looks quite different. Of the  estimated 1.6 million homeless American youth, between 20 and 40  percent identify as LGBT. One study showed that 26% of gay teens who  came out to their parents/guardians were told they must leave home.  People in same-sex relationships are regularly denied benefits like  access to a spouse's health insurance, that are commonly given to  married heterosexuals. “Gay bashing” is still a real concern for LGBT  people. The FBI reported that 15.6% of hate crimes reported
 to police  in 2004 were based on perceived sexual orientation. 18 states do not  even have hate crime laws that include crimes based on sexual  orientation or gender identity. 
   Discrimination based on sexual orientation is still legal in the U.S.  in many cases. There are federal laws against job discrimination on the  basis of race, religion, gender, national origin and disability.  However, they say nothing about discrimination on the basis of sexual  orientation. While many states do have state laws prohibiting  employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, and in some  cases gender identity, the majority of states do not. The current  Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which is currently being  discussed in Congress would represent a real step forward. It would  outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity on  a federal level. However, the legislation has its limitations. For  example, it only applies to certain workplaces. And in general, making  a law won't really end inequality. For example, despite laws forbidding  job discrimination based on sex or race, African-American workers earn  73 cents for
 every dollar white workers make, and women in the U.S.  earn 77 cents for every dollar men make. 

  LGBT high school students have one of the worst situations. Not only do  the overwhelming majority of schools not deal with LGBT issues –  especially in sexual education classes, but LGBT high school students  face harassment and threats of violence on a daily basis. A national  survey of LGBT students conducted in 2003 found that, within the past  year: 77.9% heard remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently or  often at school; 18.8% heard similar remarks from faculty or school  staff at least some of the time; 82.9% reported that faculty or staff  never or only sometimes intervened when they were present when such  remarks were made. Studies have shown that gay youth are 4 times as  likely than their non-gay counterparts to have attempted suicide, and  that nearly one-third of LGBT students drop out of high school to  escape the violence, harassment, and isolation they face there - a  dropout rate nearly three times the national average. 

 What can we do?  
  With all these problems, the question is: what can we do to improve the  lives of LGBT people? The daily problems faced by most LGBT people – in  addition to discrimination, gay bashing, and a higher homelessness  rate, are also the same problems faced by most heterosexuals, like low  wages, no health insurance, a lack of affordable decent housing,  underfunded schools and for those who graduate high school and want to  go to college, unaffordable tuition. 

  An LGBT movement that organized people locally and nationally to  campaign on concrete issues affecting the daily lives of LGBT people,  such as getting schools to set up programs and policies to deal with  homophobic bullying, getting cities to set up and fund gay-friendly  youth centers, getting cities to set up more gay-friendly homeless  shelters, and worked on campaigns against low wages, for single-payer  healthcare, better funding for schools and other social programs would  be able to link up with unions, community groups and other progressive  movements, making these campaigns much stronger. An LGBT movement like  this could offer real improvements in the lives of working class LGBT  people (and working class heterosexuals). 

  History shows that whenever major gains were won in the struggle  against oppression, they were won on the basis of mass movements, like  the civil rights movement, women's rights, or early gains won by the  LGBT movement decades ago. Major gains like this are not won by  focusing on getting certain people elected, then hoping they keep their  campaign promises. In order to win serious improvements in our lives,  we need to rebuild the radical traditions of the past. 

  However a movement like that would face powerful opposition. Big  business would not want to pay (either directly through higher wages  and better benefits, or indirectly through taxes) for an increase in  our living standard. Aside from throwing us a few crumbs now and again,  the bought-off politicians of both parties consistently side with big  businesses against working people, for example on questions like  single-payer healthcare. 

  But in the end, we live in a society where the vast wealth of a tiny  minority stands in contrast with the living standards of the vast  majority. This system survives by pitting one oppressed group against  another, be it through racism, sexism or homophobia. In order to make  it possible to live in a society in which discrimination and oppression  are things of the past, we need to get rid of capitalism. The LGBT  movement needs to link up with the struggle for socialism.

http://www.lagai.org/

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http://www.noborderscamp.org/

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