|
Following is a speech given in Hartford, Conn., at a May 7
fundraiser for the campaign of Socialist Action candidate for Congress
Chris Hutchinson (see article on page 4). McAuliffe is a member of
Youth for Socialist Action at Central Connecticut State University and
a former vice president of the campus Gay-Straight Alliance.
On March 20, we protested in Lafayette Square in Washington,
D.C., to demand an end to the wars and occupations. Two days prior, gay
rights activists were using that very same space to call for the repeal
of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Lt. Choi was scheduled to speak at a Human Rights Campaign
rally being hosted by Kathy Griffin—do I need to say anymore about the
political tone of this gathering? He gave a passionate and
well-articulated speech, which you can find on YouTube, and hijacked the
rally. Five hundred people left the HRC with him to go from “Freedom
Plaza” in downtown D.C. to the White House, where Lt. Choi and his gay
comrade Cpt. James Pietrangelo hand-cuffed themselves to the White
House fence.
The Obama administration did not change the policy, so a month
later they returned with four other service members to repeat that same
action. Again, they were immediately arrested.
This past Sunday, Lt. Choi returned for a third time with
hundreds of gay activists. This time, six service members chained
themselves to the fence. The Secret Service kicked out the media, told
everyone the park was closed, and arrested those who were chained to
the fence.
Now, as a queer activist who has recently come out of the
closet as “socialist-curious,”
I find this
type of action both invigorating and inspiring! What is important to me
about these demonstrations is that transgender, lesbian, and gay people
that I know from Central and Southern CT State University went there.
For the first time, I am seeing friends who had all voted and
avidly supported Obama commit direct action to protest policies that
exist under his administration.
And we all know from personal experience how affirming
and radical it is to be in the presence of a large number of people who
are working towards a common goal. Finally, my people are overcoming
the complacency of the Obama-effect! Similar to the experience of the
African-American community, the Latino community and women’s groups,
many transgender, bisexual, lesbian, and gay activists were put into a
sedated liberal trance in November of 2008.
Even this past January, when Obama point blank said that he
would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in his State of the Union address,
my queer friends and family got their hopes up again, thinking that
this was the year when that equality could finally be won.
Now, let’s take a pause here: How could any person with a clean
conscience argue that seeking full-fledged participation in the world’s
largest imperialist and mass-murdering organization is in the pursuit
of equal rights?
Why are gay activists campaigning for a “right” that would only
allow them to engage in a racist and classist war against Muslim people
both inside and outside of this country? This is a bit hypocritical,
don’t you think?
I say, not at all! It would be hypocritical only if you viewed
participation in the U.S. military as a passive support of the war of
terror on the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Only if you saw U.S.
soldiers as mindless patriotic war robots and not as the vast reserve
of exploited working-class labor that is disproportionately filled by
Black and Latina women and men.
To paraphrase the rap philosopher Immortal Technique: We DIE
in wars. We don’t get the contracts to make money off ‘em afterwards! We
don’t get weapons contracts. We don’t get cheap labor for our
companies—we ARE cheap labor, people!
Let’s not forget that the GI resistance was how the war in
Vietnam finally ended. Of course, antiwar demonstrations back home in
the States helped support this effort, but, ultimately, what ended the
war was soldiers laying down their guns and refusing to fight a false
enemy.
Today, the Iraq Veterans Against the War and other war
resisters lead a similar movement, but heterosexual women and men
cannot lead this battle alone. An injury to one is an injury to all!
Queer issues affect everybody. We’re the only minority who can be
anybody. Our demands for peace must include an end to any type of
employment discrimination that prohibits war resisters from carrying
out their duty as such.
How can gay soldiers feel safe to protest these unjust and
racist wars as freely as their heterosexual counterparts do if they can
be fired at any minute once their true sexual identity comes to light?
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is politically crippling to lesbian and gay GIs
who want to dismantle the war machine.
It is for these reasons and many more that I support having a
socialist candidate for the U.S. Congress. And not just any socialist,
but Chris Hutchinson of Socialist Action! He’s got the backs of the war
resisters and the gays and any community whose rights are being
trampled on by capitalism and greed in this world.
Through political discussions with Chris
and his comrades, I have become more enlightened about how
working-class and antiwar issues greatly impact my queer community and
vice versa. Together, we will be an unstoppable force!
|