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Dear Supporter, The
last two weeks have been tough for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender Kentuckians.
The murder of an African American transgender woman in
Louisville was practically ignored by the media, a group of
white males perceived to be gay were harassed in a
McDonald’s restaurant, and an appellate court delivered a
ruling prohibiting second parent adoption for unmarried
couples. Notice,
that pretty well covers all of us in the “LGBT”
community.
Discrimination against gay Kentuckians crosses lines of
sex, race and class - good reason for us to move beyond those
issues ourselves. In
the three years I have led this organization, the leading
organization advocating for statewide legislation for gay
Kentuckians, I have watched and listened as individuals in our
community offer every reason under the sun for why they
can’t be part of a unified effort. They’re not
political. They’re busy with their lives. They don’t
like me. They don’t like a KFA Board member. They
don’t like that we work with this or that group on a
particular project. KFA uses the wrong model. Not everybody
knows they’re gay. All
fair enough. But then don’t expect anything to change.
Until we can get past ourselves and our differences and look at
the big picture, gay Kentuckians will remain second-class
citizens. For
those who are not happy with the status quo, who might
legitimately use some or all of the reasons above for not
getting involved but who know that those things are not static -
as being gay is, what can we do? We
can propose legislation to include transgender Kentuckians in
our Hate Crimes law. We can propose
legislation to give legal recourse to gay individuals who are
harassed. We can propose legislation to
allow all parents to adopt their children. But
then there’s getting that legislation passed, which is a
whole different ballgame. Why? Because it takes more than one
person or a handful of people to make it happen. It takes gay people
talking to their friends, family, neighbors, employers,
employees and legislators about their lives – and
insisting on the civil rights and dignity afforded all Kentucky
citizens. If
any one thing stands out in my mind about the experience of the
last three years, it is the astounding lack of confidence we
have in ourselves as a community. Too often we are content to
let someone else take responsibility in Frankfort. Change
requires investment and tenacity, not relinquishment. One of my
favorite organizational tag lines is from the National Center
for Lesbian Rights, which claims “the audacity to fight,
the perseverance to win.” The
day I realized and internalized the fact that there were
417,000+ Kentucky voters willing to say NO to discrimination in
2004, I knew we could change our future. The operative word is
we. Each of us is (hopefully) one of those 417,000 voters (and
if you’re not, you can stand in for one!). Even a small
percentage of those voters could create significant change in
Frankfort in a very short period of time. This is not wishful
thinking. It is doable. Borrowing from a famous politician, I’m asking you
to believe in KFA, yes. But mostly I’m asking you to
believe in yourselves. KFA is nothing is it is not all of us.
Go
team!! Christina Gilgor Executive Director
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The
Ampersand symbolizes the solidarity we are building through 