KarMel
Scholarship 2007
|
“Talk About It” By Ralph
Yamall-Rodland |
Desciption of Submission: Speech designed to be presented to
the national HRC audience during their 2006 National Coming Out Day Celebration
|
Welcome to the 2006
National Coming Out Day festivities!!
As I look out at the enormous turnout we have today, my ongoing
enthusiasm for our purpose is validated and enriched each and every year we
gather to celebrate this momentous day.
Our attempts to promote awareness and acceptance of lesbians, gays,
bisexuals, and transgender individuals around the world reach more and more
people every year. Homosexuals and heterosexuals
alike join together to profess to the multitudes why equal
rights for all people is so important. Dr. Jean O’Leary and Dr. Robert
Eichberg founded National Coming Out Day back in 1988 as a celebration of the
Second National March on Jean O’Leary faced
remarkable obstacles by leaving the convent in 1970 and founding the Lesbian
Feminist Liberation. Many today will
be doing something for the first time, sharing their sexual orientation with
friends, family members, or possibly complete strangers. Dr. O’Leary also completed many firsts in
her time. She arranged the first
meeting of gay rights activities at the White House under Jimmy Carter in
1977. She was the first openly gay
person appointed to a presidential commission which would include gay and
lesbian rights in the national conversation.
She was the first openly lesbian delegate to a national political
convention, attending the Democratic convention in 1976 and served on the
Democratic National Committee for 12 years, 8 of those on the Executive
Committee, which was another first.
Both Dr. Eichberg and Dr. O’Leary have given their lives in pursuit of
equality, for which we would not be able to enjoy this celebration today. Our theme this year, Talk
About It, asks the GLBT community and our allies to use October 11 to provide
a safe haven for those among us forced to live in secrecy, while asking those
GLBT individuals who have made the brave decision to come out, to use this
day to talk about our orientation in as many public settings as
possible. In addition, we welcome and
thank all of our heterosexual supporters for helping us to open dialogues
amongst all members of society who may not have friends or family members who
identify with our orientation. Our group must always deal
with a most unknown dichotomy—those among us who are forced to live in
secrecy and fear, and those who are able to celebrate our sexual orientation
openly and wholeheartedly. Despite the
numerous attempts by right-wing extremist groups to silence our existence,
more and more GLBT individuals are able to come out and proclaim their
sexuality with pride. This day of celebration
enables a common unifying event where we not only encourage those among us
who fear uncertainty about their public perception to embrace public
disclosure, yet also educate every American about the diverse group of
individuals who find themselves identifying with our orientation. We were able to distribute
hundreds of thousands of kits to enable individuals and groups to help open a
healthy dialogue to unlock people’s hearts and minds ushering in fairness for
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Coretta Scott King has
said, “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights
of lesbian and gay people. But I
hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere
is a threat to justice everywhere.’” We at the Human Rights Campaign have heard
stories over the years and have come to the conclusion that “coming out” is a
process, not an event. More
accurately, it is a series of events, with successive degrees of openness and
honesty. In early workshops, we taught
that coming out is an act of love; that the greatest act of love possible, is
simply to tell the truth about your experiences - all of them. We
often fear that telling the truth about ourselves will hurt others. Ironically, the reality is that we hurt
others by our secrecy and denial. We harm ourselves even more, when we allow
our fears to keep our closet doors nailed shut. Our personal and community
obligation is to come out and take pride in our courage and own uniqueness. When we released our
promotional materials this year, we included some of my favorite statements
about this important occasion and what it all means. “Being brave doesn’t mean that you’re not
scared. It means that you’re scared,
and that you do the thing that you’re afraid of anyway. Coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual,
transgender or as a straight-supportive person is an act of bravery,
authenticity and openness. Whether it’s
for the first time ever, of for the first time today—coming out is the most
important thing you will do all day. Whether you’re gay or
straight, out or not, displaying a sticker, hosting a booth, shopping at
gay-friendly stores, donating to the cause, or starting dialogues among your
family and friends, we all join together today to ensure equality for all
people is at the forefront of this great nation. I hope each and every one of you will use
this day as a powerful beginning to continue the conversation every day. TALK
ABOUT IT always and often.
Every word is a step in the right direction! |