Kate Clinton wrote an essay for The Bilerico Project looking ahead to the new decade that is almost upon us. Here's an excerpt:
In the waning Obama oughts, we LGBTs have experienced heartbreaking marriage equality setbacks, the shuttering of our bookstores, and the collapse of publishing. Many LGBTs suspect deliberate dithering on DOMA, ENDA and DADT. They demand the shut down of the GayTMs.
Of course I am disappointed in my President. Mind you, it is a lovely change from my despair during eight years of Bush. Yet somehow during those Bush zero years of federally sanctioned homophobia we made progress: protection from discrimination and hate violence, recognition of LGBT families, safer and more accepting school climates for LGBT youth, relief from HIV and AIDS, more LGBTs in public service and broader acceptance of LGBT people. (To see the numbers: "A Decade of Progress on LGBT Rights").
As we begin this new decade, despite enormous financial challenges, LGBT organizations and individuals are working for full equality - some incrementally, some flashy and splashy, all exponentially. Just one year into the Obama administration we have seen LGBT inclusion in the census, the lifting of the HIV immigration ban, and the signing of the Hate Crimes Bill. Some amazing individual stories have emerged: Rachel Maddow's relentless coverage of anti-gay laws in Uganda; the election of Houston's Mayor Annise Parker; Arkansas' ten year old Phil Miller who refuses to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance until there is liberty and justice for all.
I am optimistic about what we can accomplish under President Obama.
Click here to read the rest of the essay, and let us know if you too are optimistic as we head into 2010.
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