A debate is raging throughout the broad movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights: Is the U.S. government’s “War on Terror,� including the war on Iraq, an issue that the LGBT movement should address?
A growing number of LGBT groups, including the National LGBT Program of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC), answer that question with an unequivocal “Yes�.
As LGBT people, we recognize that our fight for basic civil and human rights benefits from a society based on democracy, justice and equality. Our well-being depends on a society that continues to support these institutions. Indeed, the people of Iraq and other countries experiencing the “War on Terror� are entitled to such a society. In a world at war, in a world without these values in place, rights that affect LGBT people — and all people— are endangered:
1. We oppose the war because of its disproportionate impact on people of color, immigrants and refugees, women, children and youth, and poor people (including members of all these populations who are also LGBT). As traditionally marginalized people ourselves, LGBT people understand a society’s responsibility to protect all its citizens.
2. We oppose the war because the war’s racial profiling of our LGBT Arab, Muslim, Asian and Latino brothers and sisters put all LGBT immigrants (many of whom came to the United States precisely because of its supposed support of LGBT issues) in jeopardy.
3. We oppose the war because we know that war will NOT protect the human rights of LGBT people in war-torn countries. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) says, “The U.S. policies of Military aggression have served to render those who deviate from sexual and gender norms and people living with HIV/AIDS especially vulnerable to state-sanctioned violence and discrimination.�
4. We oppose the war because it distorts our movement’s ability to evaluate violence. As U.S. bombs rained down on Afghanistan after 9/11, the LGBT community took note of a photograph showing “Die Fags� graffiti written on one of those bombs. A widely publicized response by a national LGBT organization expressed outrage at the homophobic graffiti, but did not comment upon the lethal intent of the bomb itself — or the effect it would surely have on the human beings in its path.
5. We oppose the war because it drains vital funding away from basic educational, health and social services. Considering that a number of LGBT people are at significant risk for health and social issues such as HIV/AIDS, youth homelessness, etc., funding cuts to programs that address these issues will also hurt a large number of LGBT people.
6. We oppose the war because it will disproportionately hurt young men and women, especially those who must serve in the armed forces because of socio-economic conditions due to their sexual orientation, as well as other LGBT young people who are punished and repressed for speaking out against the war.
7. We oppose the war because our experiences being marginalized in society allows us to empathize with others who are singled out for hatred and violent treatment by public authorities.
8. We oppose the war because we support the legal framework of civil rights and constitutional rights, and reasonable government checks and balances, however imperfectly realized, support us in our struggle for justice. Without this framework, our struggle for justice is jeopardized.
9. We oppose the war because of our commitment to human rights and civil rights for all. Race, gender, culture, class, age, and the complex interrelationships of these factors are central to our LGBT experience and analysis. When we fight for human rights in all aspects of society, our fight includes, but is not and should not be limited, to LGBT people, because human rights benefit all.
LGBT people have never fared well in politically charged climates when governments say that it is necessary to sacrifice human and civil rights in order to achieve safety. The question LGBT communities must confront is this: Whose safety will be increased by erosion of rights? Whose safety will be further jeopardized?
This article was based on a resource sheet co-published by the National LGBT Program of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC). For more information or to get a copy of the LGBT resource sheet, contact
Kay Whitlock of AFSC’s LGBT programs, (406) 721-7844 or
whitlock@bigsky.net
Joseph Truong of NYAC, (202) 319-7596, ext. 12 or
joseph@nyacyouth.org
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