Processing Chavez

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I've waited a couple of days to let the news about César Chavez sink in. I hoped giving myself that time would allow me to come up with an incisive comment.

It hasn't.

Apparently I'm on the emotional slow train, only just moving from shock to deep disappointment. With stops at anger along the way.

It's one thing when a social-justice hero is revealed to have had feet of clay. Think MLK's many infidelities. It's another thing when the icon is revealed to have been a serial rapist.

What do we progressive types do with this news? Wallow in sadness? Work to separate the man from his accomplishments? Become even more cynical?

I admit I've had overwrought thoughts like, "Men just can't be trusted, and for the sake of girls, women, and the planet, should all be confined to Oklahoma."

But even this lesbian needs men, as friends and relatives and to balance my existence. Besides, my straight women friends couldn't live without men—although more and more sound willing to try.

So far what I've taken from the revelations about Chavez is an abiding respect for his accusers. That the two women he groomed as girls have come forward despite enormous cultural pressure is beyond brave.

And Dolores Huerta, telling her ghastly truth at the age of 95, keeping the secrets all these years so the farmworker movement wouldn't be wounded. That's heroic, tragic, and so female.

If it should turn out that Huerta likes to strangle kittens in her free time, don't tell me. I can't take it.

The News We Need

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has established the first Mayor's Office for LGBTQIA+ Affairs. He put Taylor Brown in charge of it, making her the first openly transgender person to lead a NYC office.

"She's gonna make sure that everybody gonna be somebody," said Rosetta Ferguson, Brown's grandmother.

Can't type anymore. Got something in my eye.

Faster, Higher, Gayer

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Progress marches on. And surfs. And dives. And dribbles.

The 2024 Paris Olympics were the gayest Games yet, according to Outsports, which counted 199 out gay, lesbian. bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary athletes.

By contrast, the 2012 London Summer Games had 23 openly gay and lesbian athletes, and we thought that was darn good at the time.

In Paris, Team LGBTQ captured 43 medals, placing it seventh in the total medal count. (Maybe Team LGBTQ should compete as a nation. Heaven knows we already have a flag. Depending on the nature of our anthem, every medal ceremony could turn into a dance party.)

What particularly pleases me is that Team LGBTQ's medal haul bested every single country that criminalizes being gay. That's a big rainbow raspberry to all of them.

There were so many stories at the Games, ranging from the misinformation-fueled furor over an Algerian boxer's gender to the fact that more than half of the champion U.S. women's basketball team was openly LGBTQ.

But the story I want to highlight, before these Games fade into my iffy memory, is that of 25-year-old boxer Cindy Ngamba. Born in Cameroon, she moved to the United Kingdom at age 11. She was granted refugee status in 2021, because in Cameroon she could go to prison for being gay. Ngamba won a bronze in Paris, making her the first ever athlete competing as a refugee to clinch a medal.

Ngamba was the flag bearer for the Refugee Olympic Team. Obviously that team made a good choice. Obviously Cameroon didn't.

Death and Life

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Over 100 people gathered yesterday in Bangor, Maine, to mark the 40th anniversary of the murder of Charlie Howard. He was 23 in the summer of 1984 when three teenagers, yelling homophobic slurs, approached him and his boyfriend. The teens threw Howard off a bridge, and he drowned.

A couple of months later and about 50 miles away, I returned to Maine for my senior year at Colby College. As I remember, a campus cop was overheard remarking that Howard got what he deserved. The cop was fired.

In hindsight, that in itself was a sign that things were changing in Maine. Howard's murder led to the creation of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, now EqualityMaine. The state outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in 2005.  In 2012, Maine became the first state to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot box.

Over these 40 years, queer life in the Pine Tree State has improved dramatically, and that had a lot to do with Charlie Howard and every other Charlie Howard we don't know about. Why is it that people have to die for civil rights to advance? I wish the universe would come up with a less lethal arrangement.

On the Train

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On Sunday, wearing a rainbow shirt, I boarded Seattle's light rail. The train was packed with other Pride-goers, along with assorted Seattle Mariners fans.

At a downtown stop, a 60-something straight Australian couple got on, each wheeling a suitcase suitable for a month's visit to North America. My fellow sardines and I began to chat, and it turned out they'd watched some of the Pride parade.

"This is nothing compared to Sydney's Pride," he said, which he explained is full of floats. I told him I'd heard that was true, and I'd love to see it in person someday, but as Seattle was enthusiastically celebrating its 50th Pride, he might not want to say that too loudly.

I asked them about their travels, and he raved about Alaska's mountains. "Okay," I said. "You've got the Pride, we've got the mountains." They agreed.

Afterwards, as I walked toward the parade, I marveled that the concept of LGBTQ Pride has grown so big and so international that I would find myself good-naturedly comparing celebrations with heterosexual tourists from abroad.

Harvey, Bayard, Barbara—you wouldn't believe it.

This Week's Quote

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We’ve made progress on LGBTQ+ equality, like Obergefell establishing marriage equality 9 years ago.

But let’s be clear: we’re still fighting against divisive rhetoric, discrimination & harmful legislation targeting LGBTQ+ Americans, especially trans youth. Onwards with pride.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Source: X

This Week's Quote

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Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory, or an acceptance of the way things are. Instead, it's a celebration of progress. It's an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history, things do get better. America can change.

Barack Obama

Source:  Country Living 

All Persons

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I read something remarkable today in the magazine of The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Before creating the 1.2 mile All Persons Trail, located within a TNC swamp preserve in Manchester, N.H., designers held listening sessions with communities that face barriers to nature. Disabled people weighed in.

But they weren't the only ones. "One participant spoke about the need for a private space, such as an all-gender restroom, for trans people to bind or unbind their chest." That restroom came to fruition, and the trail's signage includes depictions of different sexual orientations.

I'm so pleasantly surprised that TNC asked for input. I do believe welcoming efforts like this trail will be appreciated and effective, even as I know there will always be a portion of the LGBTQ community whose interest in nature is confined to sex on the dunes.

Equal-Opportunity Meddling

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

I had plans yesterday to watch some of the NCAA women's basketball tournament with my straight friend Mary. When I arrived at her condo, a woman I didn't know was seated in front of the TV. As Mary introduced us, it took me one second to absorb that this woman was a lesbian.

I can't say whether my friend was engaged in calculated matchmaking, but when I departed several hours later, Mary whispered to me at the door, "She's cute, isn't she?"

Being set up has never worked well for me. However, as I drove home I decided it's a sign of progress that these days our straight friends are as hot to make a mess of our love lives as our queer friends.

Papal Progress

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Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has hinted, hedged and hiccuped that he favors a kinder approach to queer people. Yesterday he came through, as the Vatican announced that priests can bless same-sex couples.

It's still far from same-sex marriage, and there are caveats, but to a lot of LGBT Catholics, this is a big holy deal.

"To have this huge turnaround was very surprising," Aaron Bianco, a gay Catholic leader, told Gay City News. "I’m very happy. I think for non-Catholics, they probably don’t understand how huge this is. We’ve gone from 'this will never be a conversation' to 'OK priests, you have the ability now to go out and bless same-sex couples if they ask you for it.'"

I'm glad for the many queer Catholics in the world. This change might not be a miracle on a level with the loaves and fishes, but Pope Francis is damn sure feeding a multitude.