Here is the full text of the speech that was delivered (albeit interrupted by the weather) by Chance Lunning at Harvey Milk Day 2011. Join The Impact would like to thank everyone that came out to march and rally in the rain to demand equality!
It’s been a busy week. After a week of near constant protesting at the state capitol, the Legislature voted last night to put our rights on the ballot in 2012.
I recognize many of you from the protests and I know how tired and disappointed we all are. Personally, I can’t help thinking about how the state that I grew up in, where my family and friends live, a state that has always been my home regardless of where I was living, is now going to vote on whether I deserve the same rights as everyone else.
I think it’s important to mention the connection between the anti-LGBT bullying, that has made school unbearable for our youth, and homophobic and transphobic laws in our government. A society that holds one section of its population as second-class citizens creates within it a group that is accepted as something less-than-human. And so, in a very real way, laws, like the amendment we will be voting on in 2012, justify the anti-LGBT bullying that is destroying the lives of children–lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered AND straight.
The most important thing to remember over the next few days, is that this is only the beginning of the fight. In fact, now is when the real work begins. We will be facing some tough odds. If the battle over California’s Proposition 8 is any indication, we will be up against a very well financed force, supported by homophobic organizations across the country. They are audacious and they are shameless and they have a lot of resources at their disposal, but we have something more powerful than any amount of money. If you look back over the course of history, you will find one thing that is consistent with all social movements–when regular people get together and organize for change, we can accomplish amazing things. And, honestly, we always win. It sometimes takes a few tries, but in the end we always win. And we’re going to win this fight too, but to do so everyone needs to get involved.
In order to stand up to the money and the media resources and everything else at disposal of the Minnesota Family Council and the National Organization for Marriage, we need to build a mass movement that is politically independent, democratically lead by its members and capable of linking up with the struggles of other groups fighting for justice and equality.
The goal of Join The Impact – Twin Cities is to build such a movement and we need your help. That *can* mean donations–we certainly wouldn’t turn them away!–but what we really need is you, at our meetings, helping to organize the movement that will defeat this homophobic, hateful amendment–but we can’t stop there.
It’s time that the LGBT movement got off the ropes and went on the offensive, nationally. The Minnesota Safe Schools for All Act is a great start, but we need to keep pushing until we have full federal equality for everyone in the United States.
So, get involved and help us as we build a vigorous and dynamic fight back to this anti-marriage amendment, and a movement that will win the struggles of the future.
Thank you.
