Thou Shalt Support Your Allies ... If You Want to Win

Last week Ed Jackson wrote that instead of embracing the victimization of the Jim Crow era, the LGBT community must be courageous enough to focus our collective efforts on the proactive, successful strategies of the Civil Rights Movement. This week he encourages readers to embrace another principle from the Civil Rights Movement--Thou shalt support your allies.

In a recent email exchange, the woman who will one day be my mother-in-law shared some frustration with me:

One of the comments [my husband] usually makes when we're doing some kind of LGBT-supportive event is, “why aren't they (LGBT people) get out here also?” Not just the politically-motivated ones, but the ones who think they are safe and happy in their own cocooned lives, and who don't want to mess it up by maybe being confronted by somebody who won't like them? It's not always easy for us to be good allies, but we try; and I think more LGBT people need to try to be good allies to their friends and family who are not in those secure places (either physically or emotionally). No one else can do it for them; we (allies) can be supportive, but we can't make the change happen without all of us being in the struggle together.

Before you get all pissed off, you have to understand that after my partner came out, his parents turned into uber-PFLAG parents. The first time I met them more than 6 years ago, they didn't bat an eye. Now, they treat me the same way they treat his brother's and sister's spouses.

Another cardinal rule of the Civil Right Movement is Thou shalt support your allies.

It's time for us to start racking up some victories, and one place we can begin is by supporting the anti-discrimination legislation introduced by Texas State Representative Michael Villarreal (D-San Antonio).

Villarreal's legislation, House Bill 538, "prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. The bill will incorporate sexual orientation and gender identity/expression into all existing labor code sections dealing with nondiscrimination, treating them equally with race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age."

Any other time, I would say this legislation had no chance of passing in the Texas State Legislature, but things are different this time. According to The Dallas Observer, a Texas-based LGBT newspaper, the current Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Rep. Joe Straus (R-San Antonio), is a moderate Republican who will probably allow pro-gay legislation to come to the floor for a vote. However, having a "moderate" Republican Speaker also means that conservative Republican House members will also be allowed to offer anti-gay amendments to legislation.

Another reason things look promising is the involvement of Equality Texas. This organization has a first-rate track record of achieving civil rights VICTORIES in the reddest red state in the country. Take a look for yourself; this is what a successful LGBT movement looks like.

Randall Terrell, Equality Texas' political director, believes that, “The social conservative minority in the House is probably going to try and force votes on some issues. With a moderate Republican as speaker, we’re going to see attempts by the social conservatives to embarrass him or to try and sneak something through. The Arkansas bill [Act 1, an initiative approved by voters there last November that prohibits gays and lesbians from becoming foster or adoptive parents] has us all worried. I fully expect to see a nasty amendment on foster care or adoption in the House this session."

Speaker Straus will be taking a political risk by allowing pro-LGBT legislation to come to the floor that will probably result in right-wingers painting a target on his back. If he is going to take a political risk for us, the LGBT community has to be there to provide financial and political cover for him and our other allies. In addition to Speaker Straus and Rep. Villarreal, allies in the Texas Legislature who will need our support include:

• Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth) has introduced a bill that would establish a commission to figure out why, despite Texas law enforcement officers investigating numerous potential hate crimes each year, there have only been 8 prosecutions under the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act since it was passed in 2001.
• Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) introduced legislation guaranteeing unmarried partners hospital visitation rights and the right to make medical care decisions for one another.
• Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas) has refiled a bill to ban discrimination in the provision of insurance.
• Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) has filed a measure that would add protections for homeless people to the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act. Equality Texas is watching this bill because there is a great deal of overlap between the LGBT and homeless populations.
• Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) has introduced legislation proposing to set up an insurance system for small businesses that can’t otherwise get insurance. The bill has a nondiscrimination clause that includes sexual orientation.
  

I'd like to point out to all the folks who believe that there are no African American leaders who support LGBT issues that Rep. Veasy and Sens. West and Ellis (listed above) are Black, publically-elected officials in Texas who openly support and advocate on our behalf.

I don't know how it got started last time, but I would love to see this information get passed on to the same network of individuals who rallied after Prop 8. Here is a real opportunity to weigh in BEFORE a decision is made. Sign petitions. Post it on your blog. Email it. Donate money to Equality Texas before the Mormons get involved. Reach out to the African American, Hispanic and Asian communities early in the game. Okay, it's Texas, but California was "supposed" to go our way. We took it for granted, and we lost.

People are still pissed about Prop 8, and here is a list of proactive, strategic, forward-looking things we can do right now to start tallying marks in the victory column--something other than posting the names of Mormon donors to the "Yes on Prop 8" campaign on Google Maps. How is that going to help us? Think about it. After so many loses, how awesome would it be to win a few of these battles? People, we can do this!