martes, 30 de diciembre de 2008

Below is Queer Liberaction's response to Etta Zamboni's resignation-cum-diatribe rant. You can find it here.

Queer Liberaction Calls for Unity

Last week's letter to the editor of the Dallas voice by Etta Zamboni is a testament to how incredibly difficult it is to work with this individual if there is a difference of opinion. Instead of bowing out gracefully, in her resignation letter, Zamboni dedicates three quarters of it to accuse Gabe and myself of being mean-spirited.

The real issue is that Zamboni confuses questioning and criticism of political strategies as "full scale attacks". This was the first time Zamboni organized political events such as these, so to a certain degree we understand her sentiments. Unfortunately, the former Join the Impact Dallas representative has gotten so personally offended by this debate that it seems to have prevented her from having a respectful discussion as to the validity of one political tactic over another.

The bottom line is that there was no dialog between the previous leadership of Queer Liberaction and Join the Impact. Those organizing with Queer Liberaction are aware that our direct action, unapologetic and visible style of activism is a bit different than what some in Dallas are used to.

For example, Queer Liberaction is organizing the Dallas demonstration on the National Day of Protest Against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) set for Saturday, January 10. We will meet at 11:30 am at the Dallas Historical Plaza by the records building to unapologetically demand that the new administration repeals DOMA.

On Saturday, February 7 at 12:00 pm Queer Liberaction is staging a Queer Kiss-In at Ross and Harwood. We will be keeping true to our message that visibility is a very effective way to combat homophobia with boys kissing boys, girls kissing girls, other Queer public displays of affection and giving away "free Queer hugs".

QL is currently organizing a demonstration on the National Freedom to Marry Day, February 12 at 11:30 am, complete with a wedding ceremony and all! Same-sex couples will apply for marriage licenses at the Records Building and if denied, a Queer sit-in will follow. Direct action can't be more direct than going to the marriage license department and demanding for our rights ourselves.

There will always be differences of opinion especially when dealing with a subject so powerful and able to evoke so much passion as our civil rights. QL believes that being out in the streets demanding our rights is what we so desperately need right now in the Queer community.

In the spirit of unity and to help rectify the lack of dialog we at QL would like to extend an invitation to any representative from any group to sit down and have a public conversation. We would like to talk to organizations like the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas or the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance who take a different approach to winning our equality. This invitation is open to all; churches, social organizations, political organizations that represent the gamut of political opinions, merchants associations, etc... To be apart of this or other Queer Liberaction events please contact us at lgbtliberaction@gmail.com.

Blake Wilkinson and Gabe Coppinger
Queer Liberaction

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