Building an Agora

In ancient Greek society, the agora was a place to assemble in both times of war and peace to exchange goods and ideas.

As I traverse the web looking for modern-day agoras for emerging queer leaders, I’m disappointed that there is not a central forum. Perhaps that is a piece of what I’m trying to build with QueerUSA.

Where is the queer community “going”, and who’s leading us anyhow?

I look at the national arena, and I see lawyers guiding us into legal battles. I see politicians raising and lowering the gay marriage flag, depending on the political climate. I see media producers presenting confident, everyday queers on TV – everything from Ellen to Logo’s reality TV spectacles.

Yet behind the veneer of pervasive marketing impressions stating that “queers are just like everyone else”, is the messy, powerful, potent truth that we are not.  Our well-grounded demands for basic civil rights are silencing more nuanced conversations about the cultural/spiritual uniqueness and social responsibilities of queers in the 21st century.

Let’s step back from the comforting, yet false, assumption that we queers agree on the pressing issues facing our tribe.

Here’s a topic – Civil Partnerships vs. Marriage

Karl Cronin: I believe that all US citizens seeking federally-recognized partnerships should be eligible for domestic partner status. I don’t believe US approved marriages should be issued to anyone. Religious institutions handle marriage; governments handle civil matters. I believe that same-sex marriage organizations should lobby for civil partnership rights that equal the legal benefits of marriage. It is true that separate is not equal, which is why I feel our ultimate goal should be to be dissolve federally-issued marriage certificates and issue civil partnerships for all.

What do you believe?

Thoughts on a queer revival

In the past decades, the LGBT movement has been primarily focussed on securing civil liberties and identity exploration. In its wake, a generation of queers have come into their own. We’ve explored “who am I?” and “when am I going to get my rights?”, and we are ready to ask new questions, including:

What am I doing to build a stronger American?
What is unique about my perspective?
In what ways do I invite non-queers to participate in my learning?

Queer perspective can see past duality, and assist others in articulating utopian visions. Our country needs these visions, and we are being called to step forward and lead.

Project Homecoming

I’m super psyched about this project, and encourage ya’ll to check it out.