November 2006 Message From The Co-Chairs
We are fortunate to live in a time and region of the world that is tolerant, if not accepting, of the LGBT community as an integral and productive part of its village. Historically, many individuals have risked their personal security—physically, financially, and emotionally—to wage the war on discrimination and hate. It has been an act of courage and integrity for these individuals to stand up and declare themselves gay at times when to do so was often a lonely, singular act and sometimes cost them their lives.
Even though the national climate against gays and lesbians has been one of consistent loathing used to foster conservative political action, we still have felt buffered by our residence in a community that strives for diversity and inclusion.
But we are not immune to bigotry and discrimination.
You will remember that soon after the Oak Park domestic partnership registry was passed, a referendum to strike down that registry gained enough momentum to be included on the spring ballot. Although this was significantly defeated, 2,000 Oak Parkers turned out to vote in favor of stopping same-sex partners from being counted. Recently, a church employee who had been openly gay in this church’s congregation was fired, reportedly, for his homosexuality after several years of service. He was devastated, as were a number of parishioners who had grown to love him.
Alan Amato writes in this month’s Empower about how gays and lesbians are being tortured and executed as they are discovered by authorized Iraqi “gay death squads.” American troops, despite the shortage of enlisted persons in numbers enough to provide safety for our own armed services, are being “found out” and court-marshaled with dishonorable discharges for their sexuality. These are people who have volunteered to serve in this conflict despite how they are viewed or how they have been treated.
These reminders of harsh reality serve to heighten our commitment to this local organization, OPALGA. In our small way, for every person whose life we can touch and say to him or her, “You have a purpose being here,” we can stand in the face of discrimination and hate, holding our ground and make this a better world, One Gay at a Time!
