LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
MMOW Will be Marred by Regrets |
by Mubarak S. Dahir |
I'm glad to have gone to the Millenium March on Washington (MMOW). But having returned from the trip and begun the inevitable task of reflection, I'm saddened to realize just how much the experience will be tinged with regret. Sure, there was plenty of good that came out of it, for me personally and for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender causes in general. It's always a boost to see Congressional politicians address throngs of gay and lesbian people with encouraging speeches, even if it is something of a pep rally with the preacher sermonizing the already converted. But there is always hope that, particularly in an election year, the rallying will translate into political awareness and political participation at the voting booths in November. And there was plenty of rallying and political cheerleading atMMOW, with the line-up of political personalities including Congressmen and senators. While Bill and Al didn't address the crowds in person, they did send video-taped messages of good will. Meanwhile, Tipper showed up on stage at the Equality Rocks fundraising concert and played the drums. One of the biggest thrills of MMOW was seeing so many young people there, and seeing so many booths and services directed toward them. My own teenage days date back 20 yearsa short time, really, in the arc of history. But I feel downright Medieval when I conjure the memories I had of life as a teenager back then and compare it to what some gay and lesbian youths are demanding for themselves today. For most of us who are now adults, the notion of coming out in high school, the thought of daring to tell our parents and even expecting support from them, the possibility of joining a club at school that pledges to address our needsall seem unimaginable. Of course, I don't harbor any delusions about just how difficult it remains to be a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender teen. But the mere fact that even a fraction of gay teens are forging support groups, and finding allies in some parents and teachers, marks incredible progress. It was worth the trip to Washington D.C. just to see so many of them hanging out on DuPont Circle, visibly carefree, if only for a weekend. But probably the most uplifting part of the weekend for me, personally, was simply the sheer mass of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people all in one place. These events always remind me of my first gay pride celebration, 15 years ago. It was the first time I'd seen so many gay people in one place. I thought every homosexual in the country must have been present! Years of isolation and loneliness and self-doubt were wiped away. Even now, after years of attending gay pride marches and rallies, after learning to live as open a life as anyone, I still get goosebumps just seeing crowds of gay people gather for a few hours to dispel some of our daily invisibility. But I have regrets, too, about the crowd I saw at the MMOW. Put plainly, there just weren't enough drag queens or dykes on bikes or leathermen or scantily clad muscle boys. I'm glad more and more gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people feel comfortable coming to public events, wearing Polo shirts and pushing baby strollers. Maybe it's inevitable that, as more of us come out, we as a group look more and more like middle America. No doubt, most of us really do resemble a J. C. Penney catalogue more than the photos we see routinely in the bar guides. But it would be a shame to lose the more festive elements of our movement in the name of respectability. I also regret there simply weren't as many people at this event as the 1993 march. In 1993, the volume of people was part of the electricity. There's no doubt there were fewer attendees this time around. The lower attendance is probably due in good part to the controversy surrounding the march and the subsequent boycott by some gay and lesbian groupswhich is itself something to regret. But I also regret that the warring factions in own community have wasted no time continuing the mind-numbing feud about the march, even now that it's over. The march wasn't even over before the combatants started tossing out numbers in alternating attempts to prove the march's success or failure. MMOW organizers are floating a bloated figure of 800,000 people. Citing a somewhat nebulous source of "first hand accounts of the crowd size and other data," the Ad Hoc Committee which opposed the march said there were only 125,000 people present "at most." Police estimates and most press reports put the crowd somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000. It's regrettable that gay and lesbian people on both sides of this unnecessarily bitter debate don't seem to understand that the numbers can't paint a picture of either success or failure. I also regret that the squabbling has focused so much of the mainstream press about the march on in-fighting rather than the discrimination and injustices that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people face every day. And I regret that the bickering doesn't look like it is about to let up. It looks like more charges and counter-charges, name-calling and finger pointing await us. Two years of childish, selfish, self-absorbed and avoidable quarreling from both the organizers and detractors of the march seem destined to stretch on in the coming weeks, maybe even months. Regrettably, the split could affect our community for years to come. Mubarak Dahir is a regular contributor to Letters from CAMP Rehoboth. He receives email at MubarakDah@aol.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 4, May 5, 2000. |