If you ask most people on campus "How will you celebrate October 11?" you might get a lot of confused looks. To some people, though, today is a day worth celebrating. Today is National Coming Out Day, a day when gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth across the country speak out and make themselves heard. If you are not gay, lesbian or bisexual, you may not care about Coming Out Day, but coming out of the closet is a difficult thing for anyone, even in the accepting and supportive environment that people at Dartmouth tend to find. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people face rejection, harassment, even violence from their peers all across the country.
Recently, GLBT Americans have another kind of rejection to fear: not from friends, nor from family, but from our own government. President Bush has been treating us as second-class citizens. In words and actions alike he has pandered to homophobia and bigotry to score electoral votes.
In the president's America, gays and lesbians are outsiders, a threat to American society.
I speak not only of the Federal Marriage Amendment, either.
Bush has shown time and time again that he has no respect for the several million gays and lesbians living in America today. For example, consider the man who Bush appointed to his own personal advisory council on HIV/AIDS: Jerry Thacker, who has called AIDS a "gay plague" and homosexuality a "death style." Are these the sorts of men we actually want to run our country?
On the other hand, John Kerry respects gays and lesbians for who they are. Kerry has a long record of fighting discrimination and supporting gays and lesbians.
He not only opposes Bush's Federal Marriage Amendment, but was one of only 14 senators to vote against the "Defense of Marriage Act" in 1996. He has passionately opposed the discriminating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. I believe that in John Kerry's America, gay and lesbian couples will have the full protection of the laws. He's an advocate of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which will help gays and lesbians to work in an environment free of discrimination, and he supports comprehensive hate-crimes legislation so that we can live in a world free from fear.
More importantly, I believe that with John Kerry in command of this country, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and all other identities will be accepted as part of the diversity that makes America great. Gay and lesbian families will not fear being torn apart. And our gay youth will not fear for their future in this country.
To the GLBT readership of this paper: I beg you, today of all the other days in the year, choose to speak out. This is your day. To our straight allies: How would you feel to be a second-class citizen? Or if your friends or family were? Then think about how your gay friends will feel if they're condemned to four more years of discrimination on Nov. 2.
To all, I ask: if you're not registered, register to vote, in New Hampshire if not at home. If you are registered, get an absentee ballot or just make plans for Nov. 2. Today is about honesty and freedom, and about speaking out against discrimination and hate.
I'm speaking out and I encourage each and every one of you to do the same, both today and on Election Day.
