Wednesday, June 17, 2009

My ten cents on the Dallas Principles

I don't know if our followers have seen the Dallas Principles or not, but they seem to have caused quite the commotion in our community when they came out. I received an email shortly after they were posted on the web so I went and checked it out, I read it, and here is what it said:
On May 15-17, 2009 in Dallas, Texas twenty-four thinkers, activists, and donors gathered to discuss the immediate need for full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender people in the United States. Collectively we prepared The Dallas Principles.

The following eight guiding principles underlie our call to action.

In order to achieve full civil rights now, we avow:

1.Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now. Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.

2.We will not leave any part of our community behind.

3.Separate is never equal.

4.Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.

5.The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.

6.Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.

7.Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.

8.Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.
Looked good to me so I signed up. Nice principles to blog by, to remember as I write to my state and federal representatives, you know, principles to be activists by.

So what is there to cause a commotion about? I guess some folks wondered why they weren't invited to be part of the 24, some were offended that the 24 took it upon themselves to do this, rather uppity don't you think? Others wanted to know why this wasn't put up somewhere for us to vote on and others don't like the way some of the 24 have fought for our rights in the past, and some didn't like that they weren't all from Dallas.

After reading some posts and comments, I had to pause and think this through for myself.......and then do what I love....research. In researching, I found out that the 24 see each other at activist functions, email and communicate. They all agreed not much was getting done by the big money LGBT organizations, they had all noticed that our grass roots efforts were getting far more accomplished with far less money. And yes, some of them were from organizations that haven't gotten much done in the past. So, they decided to meet and talk about it. They met in Dallas, (if they had decided to meet in Reno, they would be called the Reno Principles. They might have picked Philadelphia, cause The Philadelphia Principles sounds kind of Constitutional and has a nice freedom like ring to it, but I digress.)

No, they didn't put them to a vote, but then we would all still be arguing about them and wanting our personal favorites in there to this very day. It would be 2010 and we would still be debating them. Face it, that's how it goes isn't it? I don't know what else could have been added frankly. And maybe they figured no one else was jumping on this idea, so why shouldn't they? Hell I blogged once about these very things on The Blend, (no, I didn't invent the ideas,) but then I sure didn't do anything to put them into action did I? They did, they didn't just say we should do this, they acted on it.

Now about those pesky activists who were on the wrong bandwagon for a while. Well, maybe they saw the light? I hope so. I would like to think they now have something to remind them if they ever feel like going that route again. If not we can remind them.

Now here is where things could have been done a little better (in my humble opinion), if you go to the website, what I have copied and pasted is pretty much what you will see there, plus some quotes and a couple of videos, if you click on the Click Here, you go to the sign up page. There, you have signed the Dallas Principles. But it doesn't tell you anything more really. "was that it? Now what do I do?" But there is a whole lot more to those principles, more gets explained if you would have clicked on the PDF link. But I have learned from experience, that link doesn't get clicked on because folks think it is just the 8 principles and they clicked to sign up and away they go to another page that still just has the 8 main principles. Just like I did. The first time I went to the page I never even saw the PDF link. I never saw it until today actually, and I clicked on it. My first thought was, why wasn't this on the front page all along?

That PDF link leads you to the whole document. It is 3 pages long. The whole document gives you a better idea that their intention was not to form a new organization, but to pull together all of the ones already out there plus us independent types, under one set of guiding principles. To encourage those of us that use the new social media to get the word out on rallies, protests or what else we might be organizing.

So, because you all know I love the long posts, here is the WHOLE Dallas Principles without clicking anything else:
(And if this isn't enough on the Huffington Post, Lane Hudson explains it a little more.)

THE DALLAS PRINCIPLES

PREAMBLE

President Obama and Congress pledged to lead America in a new direction that included civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. We now sit at a great moment in our history that inspires the nation to return to its highest ideals and greatest promise. We face a historic opportunity to obtain our full civil rights; this is the moment for change. No delay. No excuses.

Nearly forty years ago, a diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people stood up to injustice at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. In doing so, they submitted themselves to bodily harm and criminal prosecution. Their demand was simple -- equal protection under the law.

Still today, full civil rights has eluded the same community that rioted forty years ago. Instead, untold sums of resources have been spent to divide our nation and turn our lives into a political football.

At several junctures in American history, the stars have aligned to deliver the promise of equal protection under the law to those previously denied. At this unique time in history, our nation must once again exercise the great tradition of making its people equal.

Justice has too long been delayed. A clear path toward full civil equality for the LGBT community is overdue and must come now.

Using fear and misunderstanding to justify discrimination is no longer acceptable in this nation. Those content with the way things are will be judged harshly by history. Those who do not actively advance these ideals or offer excuses will be judged just as harshly. Those who attempt to divide our community or to delay and deny action on civil equality, waiting for the right moment to arrive, will be held accountable.

We reject the idea that honoring the founding principles of our country is controversial. We believe in the inherent human dignity of all people. No longer will we submit our children, our family, our friends and ourselves as a political tool for any Party or ideology. A new day has arrived.


PRINCIPLES

The following eight guiding principles underlie our call to action. In order to achieve full civil rights now, we avow:

1. Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now. Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.
2. We will not leave any part of our community behind.
3. Separate is never equal.
4. Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.
5. The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.
6. Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.
7. Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.
8. Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.


FULL CIVIL RIGHTS GOALS

Being united by common principles and engaging in united action, we will achieve the following goals:

1. DIGNITY AND EQUALITY. Every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender person has inherent dignity and worth, and has the right to live free of discrimination and harassment.
2. FAMILY. Every LGBT person has the right to a family without legal barriers to immigration, civil marriage or raising children.
3. ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY. Every LGBT person has the right to economic opportunity free from discrimination in employment, public housing, accommodation, public facilities, credit, and federally funded programs and activities.
4. EDUCATION. Every LGBT child and youth has the right to an education that is affirming, inclusive and free from bullying.
5. NATIONAL SECURITY. Every LGBT person should have the opportunity to serve our country openly and equally in our military and foreign service.
6. CRIME. Every LGBT person should enjoy life protected against bias crimes.
7. HEALTH CARE. Every person should have access to affordable, high quality, and culturally competent health care without discrimination.


CALL TO ACTION

1. We demand that government officials act now to achieve full civil rights without delay.
2. Our organizations and individuals need to develop a collaborative and revolutionary new organizing model that mobilizes millions of supporters through emerging web and phone technologies.
3. All LGBT individuals must accept personal responsibility to do everything within their power for equality and should get involved in the movement by volunteering, giving and being out.
4. We will hold elected officials and our organizations accountable for being transparent and achieving full civil rights by active participation when possible and active opposition when necessary.
5. Our allies need to be proactive in public support for full civil rights.
6. Every government measure that quantifies the US citizenry must permit LGBT individuals to self-identify and be counted in every way citizens are counted.
7. We demand that the media present LGBT lives in fair, accurate and objective ways that neither include nor give credence to unsubstantiated, discriminatory claims and opinions.

If you haven't joined or didn't understand it before, you can Click Here, and sign up if you want. You don't even have to do anything else at all. Just let your voice be heard in one more way that you want full equality.

“To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true.” - Bayard Rustin

Sphere: Related Content

Trevor Project

Digg Us