The fight for sexual liberation and the freedom to define our own families began long before I was born.
We and our predecessors have struggled for decades to throw off the regulation of desire by the state and religious institutions. As with all communities, we own them so much.
At the Stonewall Inn they said enough and started to fight back against police oppression and energized the modern movement.
We have long been told to wait, now is not our time, our lives are unimportant and a distraction. Religious fanatics and zealots try to push us back.
But, we continue to fight.
We will win if we refuse to be marginalized. And we have a new generation of heroes fighting against marginalization and attacks on our liberty.
Meet Your Revolutionaries: Mark Oshiro
We first learned about Mark Oshiro while following his Twitter updates as he marched on the Mormon Temple in Los Angeles last week. Under the name Panasonicyouth, he provided other protesters and interested folks with a play by play of what was happening. Then an update appeared: "Holy shit some asshole in a truck" and he went silent. In a sign of how much the internet is shaping the protests, Twitter users spread news that something had happened to Oshiro and even ABC7 got involved in the story.
When asked: Why were you protesting?
Both gay rights and civil rights are important issues to me, so I've been protesting various causes since I was in high school. I had learned of the protest outside the Mormon temple at the rally the night before in West Hollywood. I felt there was nothing more symbolic than protesting outside of a church that told its followers to pass a proposition that didn't affect them, but affected those they were voting against.
I'd met gay couples who had become married since our state Supreme Court had overturned Prop 22 and saw how destroyed they were that their marriage license might be dissolved because of a popular vote. It seemed, to me, to be imperative that, as a gay man and as an activist, I show up and give my support and my voice to those who didn't have it or who it needed it in unison with theirs.
Another encouraging story of queers bashing back.
We suffered a defeat, but in the aftermath of Prop 8 we have a new found energy and urgency. Refuse to be marginalized and share your stories about how we're fighting back.
Digg Mark Oshiro's Story.