From Carl Whitmarsh

This message was e-mailed to me.
I am sharing it with you.
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I am presently in Tucson undergoing medical treatment and had this sent to me. Normally I don't respond, but this is so absolutely absurd as to do nothing but cause damage to the credibility and effectiveness of the Caucus. Folks, get your facts right. If this "protection" is true in Houston, Texas or Harris County, why have we spent so much time, effort and money over the past twenty five years fighting this or that proposed ordinance? The HGBT Caucus has chosen terrific new talent in Kris Banks, why allow this kind of nonsense to undermine his and the Caucus' effectiveness in the future.....Personally, as bad as this is, as someone who lost many friends to AIDS during the epidemic, it is an affront to call this period a horrifying illness and it is a dishonor to those who lost their life because so many didn't care during this period.

We have three former presidents seeking election in November - Annise Parker, Sue Lovell and Lane Lewis - the Caucus should show leadership in what can and should be done. What does it do for hese candidates, former Caucus Presidents, that the organization doen't even know what the laws of the city are?





It is always welcome to see new thoughts expressed in new forums. This was just sent to me and I wanted to share this as an example of just being flat out wrong. Maybe the writer should understand that a blog is a place where you state a view of things and give your opinion. I'm not sure what it is called when you just out and out state false facts. A very simple check of past history and statutes and ordinances would prove that there is no protection from anything in Houston, Harris County or Texas. None.....zippo.....If the writer were aware of the world around him/her, he should know this, but for the writer to come from and supposedly represent the Houston Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Political Caucus is inexcuseaable if not down right criminal. I suppose I should expect nothing more from someon who sloughs off the HIV/AIDS epidemic as nothing more than a horrifying illness.

Let's talk turkey here, the under 30 group of Gays and Lesbians have no institutional knowledge of the struggles and personalities in the fight for equality over the years. They are more concerned with appearance and demanding than doing the long hard work to bring about change. For those who have been involved over the years, this has been a long struggle with more setbacks than advances. Folk who have done the legwork over the years know things don't just happen, they are made to happen and you don't just demand, you learn to work with people and you learn the parameters within which you can accomplish things. Success does not magically appear, more often disappointment is what the movement experiences....both in change of policies and laws but also in the elected officials, candidates and opinion makers who claim to be allies. Most of all it takes time to change puplic perception of anything. Ask a Black, Ask a Mexican...Chicano..Hispanic...Ask Asian Americans who came to this country. The leadership of the Gay movement both in political terms but also in service terms to the community did not suddenly appear one night. They learned to work together and formed alliances with those who were sympathetic to their plight. That sort of effort cannot be accomplished over night and the under 30 "leader" cannot just appear overnight and expect to inherit all the work done previously and take credit if they are not willing to work with all people almost full time.

The Gay movement, just like the women's movement, the Black movement, the Hispanic movement, the Asian movemment. cannot operate and be successful in a vacuum - it must reach out and bring others in if it is truly to be successful in changing laws and winning the hearts and minds of people. It takes work - it takes knowledge of what is and what has been - it takes more than what America and in this case Houston - sees as stereotypical behavior of GLBT's - it takes serious thought, planning and execution with behavior that is not alien to the majority.

Finally, change will come, but it wil not come because of the under 30 crowd if they continue as they are now. Telling the masses you can rent or feel safe in your job regardless of being Gay or not is just a flat out lie in Houston Texas today - unless your mommy or daddy owns your place and rents it to you or you work for a business owned by a relative who feels obligated to you. There are no protections in Houston, Harris County, Texas today. Yesterday's leadership well knows that with all their hard work, the movement has still not achieved all it can or should. Unfortunately, today, we seem to have to many folks who think they are the next Harvey Milk, yet they expect a title, they expect praise, they expect "leadership" and they don't know what needs to be done or how to do it and many seem unwilling to do the heavy lifting...instead it's lets go for drinks and talk about who we are going to outmaneuver next.

Election of openly GLBT candidates is not the answer to all the problems. Once they are elected, what is it they are supposed to work towards? Who is going to hold them accountable? Look at the history of Houston GLBT's and find your answer. To be a leader, you must earn that distinction and the first qualification is to have people follow you and the second qualification is to actually accomplish something. New bllod is great and it is essential, but to quote my momma, "you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" and you damn sure don't discard or disregard the old.

Please don't make everyone who has worked too had over the years for equality in this city look foolish by not knowing what you are talking about. At least spend as much time learning what has been done, by whom and what can be done in the future as writing so as to see your name in print to salve your ego - even with false facts. Sometimes it is better to stick to those things you can do well - once you figure out what that is rather than being the know it all, be all to end all. The Gay movement is too important and there are too many to honor to do things like this silly false fact spreading blog.

While I don't know who the author of this piece is, I do know my history, I do know this city and its people and I do know my facts...I have lived them for near forty years of activism and I sign my name to what I think. You might remind yourself that None are free till all are free.....Carl Whitmarsh



It has just been announced that they are now keeping the Caucus Blog updated, I pulled up one paragraph stating that gay people can freely rent apartments and can be openly gay at work. What planet or what state do they live on.
We have no protection in Houston, Harris or Texas.

http://thecaucusblog.blogspot.com/

Today we can freely rent apartments, be openly gay at work without fear of being fired, and for the most part exist free of shame and trepidation. Gay youth feel comfortable coming out at a younger age. The GLBT community has made its way into the mainstream of American culture. Gay characters commonly appear on television, though it was just twelve years ago Ellen DeGeneres’ coming out episode was banned from several stations and was preceded by a parental warning before airing. Opponents of gay rights and gay equality are fighting a losing battle. Being gay is not a divisive issue with my generation. Given that it is easier to be gay these days, it can sometimes be difficult for younger GLBT people to identify with with the struggles of the past generations of their community. Many young people may not have heard of the Stonewall riots, they may not have heard of Paul Broussard’s murder, they do not know what it is like to lose dozens of friends to a horrifying illness, and they do not know what it was like to live in fear of merely being who they are in public. Recently, this is where complacency has taken hold in the gay rights movement especially with GLBT youth. However, acceptance and toleration are not equality. The recent set backs, such as state constitutional bans on gay marriage and the Prop 8 fiasco in California, have proven that there is still a long battle ahead. There is a buzz in the community that many have not felt in a while. Many of us, who have grown up with it being acceptable to be gay, have had their eyes opened to the fact that we are still not equal, and realizing we have laws of our country, our state, and our city affirming that we are not equal. Living a life being tolerated or accepted is not the same as living as an equal member of society. The complacency is now being thrown aside.