Thursday, November 08, 2007

ENDA battle a bitter victory

As many of you are aware, this fight over ENDA has divided the lgbt community.

I won't rehash the arguments but to be honest, I can see both sides of the issue.

The passage of ENDA through the House is a great victory. It demonstrates that lgbts have come a long way. It also demonstrates that slowly but surely, the battle for our self-determination is going our way.

On the other hand,

The exclusion of transgendered individuals shows that while we are getting close to victory, we have a long way to go before we can place our feet on the welcome mat of success. As an African-American gay male, I know a little of what it feels like to be omitted for the sake of expediency.

So while my mind is for the passage of ENDA, my heart is with my transgendered brothers and sisters

So what's the solution?

I don't know. I can only offer my opinion of what we need to do next.

Which is we do what we can to resolve the friendships online and otherwise that some of us lost due to this disagreement over ENDA.

And we continue to move forward, educating each other and ourselves over this fight for self determination.