“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear.”
Probably the most important line of dialogue from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific” came into full view over the weekend as the first Lavender Graduation took place in the city of Lancaster. The event, organized by The Out Project, provided an opportunity for graduates from high school through college to be honored for, frankly, making it through a gauntlet of hate and disdain.
The students, members of the LGBT community in the High Desert city, dealt with problems most of us would rather not hear about. Sadly, no member of the Lancaster City Council thought it important enough to attend. This is not an unexpected development. But, it is a shameful one. Every one of our graduates should be honored not only for what they have accomplished, but also for themselves.
By not attending, the message was clear. It is represented in the vile attacks listed in the postings on the Web site of the local newspaper, The Antelope Valley Times, which reported the event. The attacks were so vitriolic that some violated the company’s Web posting policy and had to be removed. Many of those had fictitious names attached to them so that the cowardly individuals who posted them couldn’t, or wouldn’t be identified.
Some of the students at the event told stories of their difficulties in merely being themselves, in addition to trying to deal with the substantial problems of just growing up. Being “different,” just adds to the pressure.
The debate about rights is not a mere bagatelle. It is core to our reason for being as a society. For many reasons, we have been slow to accept change, whether it be about minorities, gender or, in this case, orientation.
But, is it really change that is being rejected or merely a loss of power? In the City of Compton, a forced reorganization of the City Council into districts may make it possible for their first Latino member to be elected. The Latino population represents nearly two-thirds of the residents. Yet, as is often the case with first generation residents, they are either not eligible or registered to vote. They are far more involved with making lives for themselves.
A similar situation occurred in Monterey Park where, after many years of being majority Asian-American, the political structure finally caught up with the City Council being majority Asian heritage.
But, these are structural issues. Discrimination due to sexual orientation has different roots and presents itself in ways that are often far more difficult to counter. In Redondo Beach, much was made of the election of Zeke Ziedler to the Redondo Beach School Board. Far less was made of Mike Gin’s election to, first, a City Council seat and, then, to the position of Mayor. Maybe the next time, there won’t even be a passing reference.
That is the way it should be.
