If you dream
Monday, October 24, 2005
As an out Lesbian who happens to work as a Congresswoman in the House of Representatives, Tammy Baldwin (D - Wisconsin) is a sort of figurehead in the GLBT movement today. Something she said in a speaks, some time ago, recently reached my ears. It has had a profound effect on me, and I hope it will you as well.
"If you dream of a world in which you can put your partner's picture on your desk, then put his picture on your desk and you will live in such a world. And if you dream of a world in which you can walk down the street holding your partner's hand, then hold her hand and you will live in such a world. If you dream of a world in which there are more openly gay elected officials, then run for office and you will live in such a world. And if you dream of a world in which you can take your printer to the office party, even if your office is the U.S. House of Representatives, then take her to the party. I do, and now I live in such a world. Remember, there are two things that keep us oppressed: them and us. We are half of the equation. There will not be a magic day when we wake up and it's now OK to express ourselves publicly. We must make that day ourselves, by speaking out publicly - first in small numbers, then in greater numbers, until it's simply the way things are and no one thinks twice. Never doubt that we will create this world, because, my friends, we are fortunate to live in a democracy, and in a democracy, we decide what's possible."
I cannot say those words are any more true in my life than after the 4th and final Gay Awareness Month I will organize. When I came to this University the Rainbow Resource Center (RRC) was getting off its feet in a new space, when I came to the University there was no Wyo AIDS Walk, when I came to the University Spectrum (then the LGBTA) was supported by one advisor and no board. My dream was to change these things, or see other's dreams in them come to fruition. Today I will be speaking before the Union board on what it means to have more space for the RRC, I will be asking the Greeks what their real involvement in the 5th annual Wyo AIDS Walk will be, and I will begin the process of letting others assume control of SPECTRUM in some very real ways. This last weekend I participated in this town's FIRST HOMEGROWN DRAG SHOW! I have lived in a world where so much was possible, and now look around myself asking why not more.
When I go set on the Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Dialogue committee for this university I am reminded of a man who had a dream, a dream he lived, and a dream which many more live today. Today, I take the next steps in living my own dream. A dream where I too am treated equally, even if today it only means that my resource center gets to live next to everyone else's and not in another building amongst administrative offices.
posted by ZEUS @ 3:18 PM,
