First Civil Disobedience Action for LGBTQI Equality Here in New York

Dear Reader,

Here is the video link for the first civil disobedience action for LGBTQI equality here in New York City. We are tired of incrementalism. We need our civil rights NOW.

LINK TO VIDEO

This is only the beginning.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR LGBTQI EQUALITY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 3, 2009

Media Contact:

Alan L. Bounville

Activist and Graduate Student

New York University

407-484-6671

alanbounville@gmail.com

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR LGBTQI EQUALITY

First Meeting in New York City to Set First Action

Several voices have emerged recently calling for the LGBTQI and supportive community to rise up and peacefully take the fight for their freedoms into their own hands. As we have seen this week alone, win some lose some tactics does not ensure all of us are treated equal under the law. The incrementalist approach to gaining full equality has lagged on long enough.

It is time for consistent, well-planned acts of Civil Disobedience for the whole of our nation to know we, those who believe in equality for all will no longer wait for judges, legislators and executives to dole out what is rightfully ours. And we will no longer accept the notion that anyone has the right to vote on civil liberties.

It is time we let those who want to continue working within the three branches of government to do that – and for the rest of us to join forces and do what every other civil rights fight has done to gain full equality – engage in Civil Disobedience.

The first of what will become a series of meetings until our full equality is achieved will be held on Sunday, December 20 from 6-8 pm. The meeting will take place at the LGBT Community Center at 208 W. 13^th Street, New York, NY 10011.

At this meeting we will brainstorm as a group all ideas group members have in regard to civil disobedient actions and again, as a group choose our first action.

For more information or to RSVP contact:

Alan L. Bounville

alanbounville@gmail.com

Alan L. Bounville is an organizational oppression and LGBTQI activist and graduate student at New York University in New York City. His current project, encouraging the fifth largest employer in his former city, Orlando, FL to provide domestic partner benefits, create a multicultural office and open the dialogue about diversity can be found at: www.ohdi.blogspot.com.

Andrew Conte, co-coordinator of this meeting was co-founder of Impact Florida, an activist group in the Tampa Bay area and has for years engaged in activism towards LGBTQI equality.

XXX

THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT - STRAIGHT FAMILIES STANDING SIDE BY SIDE LGBT FAMILIES TO FIGHT FOR LGBT RIGHTS!!!

Dear Reader,

I have to share this video. This is EXACTLY what the LGBT community needs! Straight families standing side by side LGBT families to protect marriage equality in Maine.

Click here:

Together (First TV Spot)

Do you part to help Maine! Don't let opponents to marriage equality do in Maine what was done in California. Keep LGBT marriage legal in Maine!

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

An Actor Prepares and an Activist Persists - National Equality March is Coming

Dear Reader,

Some may say I am a bit on the Debbie Downer side with my writing. Well, yeah, OK I guess I embrace that. There is part of me that ends up with the 'feel good' sensation when I share poignant stories and information about the struggles of marginalized groups and their fight for equality. In the sharing I hope all my readers can be inspired to do what they can to continue bridging divides and forging forward towards a level playing field for all. So, for me sharing the bad does make me feel good.

As promised, this blog not only serves as a clearinghouse of stories, but as a place to explore the power of performance and performance material to change lives and minds. Below is a monologue I am working on for an audition next week. It fits right in with the goals of this blog and is a reminder of what it took during the height of the AIDS crisis for people to wake up and make change a reality. The monologue comes from Larry Kramer's play The Normal Heart. Kramer is a role model of mine. It is his integration of playwrighting, activism and other writing that is an inspiration to the work I do.

And more specifically, I share Kramer's approach towards fighting for LGBT equal rights. Kramer is quoted in this month's Advocate.com article Hope and History by Michael Joseph Gross. Kramer says about the fight for LGBT equal rights, "We are not here to make friends. “We are here to get our rights. And these two statements do not join together to blend into one happy halo."

While embracing Kramer's sentiments, I do hold to my original goals of this blog. I do want to hear dissenting voices - and understand them. I do want to attract various perspectives to this debate. But, I would be doing a disservice to the LGBT and supportive community if I did not continue hammering home the gravity of what this fight is up against. That is why I choose to continue exposing the uncomfortable stories that shape LGBT discrimination and hate - being a Debbie Downer. Though the dialogue will always remain open here, we all must realize that as in any fight for equality it is the gritty persistence that doesn't allow us to keep looking away. And like all fights for civil rights in this country, everyone must accept at some point the heat will rise to uncomfortable levels for all Americans until rights are granted for the marginalized group.

I believe we are on that cusp now in regard to LGBT equality. With movements like the upcoming National Equality March we are about to see what the LGBT and supportive community is made of - really made of. You don't have to be a political science expert to know that the pendulum of power in this country perpetually swings and the rest of 2009 is prime time to go after LGBT equal rights. I think there are enough smart people out there on both sides of this fight to know this fall brings with it a consuming fire that can only be extinguished by 100% equal rights for all LGBT Americans in all matters civil and criminal.

Supporters of LGBT equality like me will always do what we can to engage in the conversations that help change hearts and minds. But the time has come when the slow progress of niceties must be usurped for a while by bold action to claim the prize. Then, in the aftermath we can see who was there in the fight, who was beside the fight, who fought against equality and lost, who still fights against equal rights after the victory and who carries shame for not doing their part to be on the right side of history.

What will get each of us off our asses to get to the National Equality March? What will cause us to say now is the time to get real and realize LGBT and supportive Americans are in for the fight of our lives?

The following monologue reflects the public attitudes of the 1980's at the beginning of the AIDS crisis. In the 1980's and 90's LGBT people had a lot of motivation to get out there and Act Up. Gay men were dying from AIDS in droves and our governments were turning a blind eye while large swaths of our community were annihilated. The grief, anger and fear got LGBT people out there making lots of noise - and things changed. Governments started taking the AIDS crisis seriously.

Never forget, LGBT people die every day around the world - for no other reason than they are LGBT. Maybe this monologue will be a cold reminder of how the 80's were not too long ago - and how hate towards LGBT people is a constant today. We should all take the time to get outside our comfort zones and realize each LGBT person who is beaten, killed or otherwise discriminated against is one person a degree closer to each LGBT person and their loved ones. A bit closer to you. A bit closer to me.

Whether real stories or representations through art - I hope my continued sharing help minimize the margins for an equal future.

From The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer

"Bruce's partner has died of AIDS at a time when people did not understand the condition properly, and no successful treatment had yet been found. He is visiting Ned, an activist in getting society to accept and understand what is happening in the gay community" (Tucker, P and Ozanne, C. (2007). Award Monologues for Men. New York: Routledge).

"Bruce: He's been dead a week.
Ned: I didn't know he was so close.
Bruce: No one did. He wouldn't tell anyone. Do you know why? Because of me. Because he knows I'm so scared I'm some sort of carrier. This makes three people I've been with who are dead. I went to Emma and I begged her: please test me somehow, please tell me if I'm giving this to people. And she said she couldn’t, there isn't any way they can find out anything because they still don't know what they're looking for. Albert, I think I loved him best of all, and he went so fast. His mother wanted him back in Phoenix before he died, this was last week when it was obvious, so I get permission from Emma and bundle him all up and take him to the plane in an ambulance. The pilot wouldn't take off and I refused to leave the plane - you would have been proud of me - so finally they got another pilot. Then, after we take off, Albert loses his mind, not recognizing me, not knowing where he is or that he's going home, and then, right there on the plane, he becomes . . . incontinent. He starts doing it in his pants and all over the seat; shit, piss, everything. I pulled down my suitcase and yanked out whatever clothes were in there and I start mopping him up as best I can, and all these people are staring at us and moving away in droves and . . . I ram all these clothes back in the suitcase and I sit there holding his hand, saying, 'Albert, please, no more, hold it in, man, I beg you, just for us, for Bruce and Albert.' And when we got to Phoenix, there's a police van waiting for us and all the police are in complete protective rubber clothing, they looked like fucking astronauts, and by the time we got to the hospital where his mother had fixed up his room real nice, Albert was dead. (Ned starts toward him.) Wait, it gets worse. The hospital doctors refused to examine him to put a cause of death on the death certificate, and without a death certificate the undertakers wouldn't take him away, and neither would the police. Finally, some orderly comes in and stuffs Albert in a heavy-duty Glad Bag and motions us with his finder to follow and he puts him out in the back alley with the garbage. He says, 'Hey, man. See what a big favor I've done for you, I got him out, I want fifty bucks.' I paid him and then his mother and I carried the bag to her car and we finally found a black undertaker who cremated him for a thousand dollars, no questions asked.

Would you and Felix mind if I spent the night on your sofa? Just one night. I don't want to go home."

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Are Christians a Marginalized Group?

Dear Reader,

IBELIEVEJESUSISTHELORDANDSAVIORBECAUSETHEBIBLESAYSSOANDIMHAPPYASACHRISTIANILOVEMYCHRISTIANFAMILYMYCHURCHHOWMUCHLIKEMEEVERYONETHEREISHOWIKNOWWEFEELTHESAMEONTHEIMPORTANTISSUESHOWWEALLBELIEVEITISIMPROTANTTOPRESERVECHRISTIANTRADITIONANDBRINGTHISCOUNTRYBACKTOITSCONSERVATIVEROOTSSOTHATMOREPEOPLECANFEELASIDOIDONTWANTTODIEILOVETHELORDANDKNOWTHEREISSOMETHINGBETTERFORMEINHEAVENHEISMYROCKMYCOMFORTERMYEVERLASTERINGFATERHEHEALSMELOOKSAFTERMEIDONTWANTTOBEALOVEIWILLNEVERFORSAKEHIMFORWITHOUTHIMIAMBOUNDTOETERNALDAMNATIONIFEVERYONEWERECHRISTIANSTHEWORLDWOULDBEAWONDERFULPLACEHARMONYANDPEACHWOULDPREVAILIFALLPEOPLEWORSHIPEDGODTHEONLYGODCRIMEWOULDBENONEXISTANTICANTBEARTHETHOUGHTTHATIWILLNEVERSEEMYLOVEDONESAGAINONCETHEYDIEWHENIAMINHEAVENIWILLSPENDALLETERNITYWORSHIPINGTHELORDJESUSCHRISTANDWILLHAVEALLTHERICHESOFTHEKINGDOMIDONOTHAVEHEREONEARTHTHEREHASTOBESOMETHINGBETTERTHANTHISIWILLCONTINUETOTRUSTINTHELORDWITHALLMYHEARTANDLEANNOTUNTOMYOWNUNDERSTANDINGFORIAMSMALLINCOMPARISONTOGODMYVOICESERVESTOECHOHISWILLIWANTTOQUESTIONMYFAITHBUTAMTERRIFIEDINDOINGSOWILLALLOWSATANTOINFILTRATEMYTHINKINGANDLIFEANDIWILLSTRAYAWAYFROMTHELORDANDIDONTDAREDOTHATBECAUSE

IMAFRAID.

I grew up in the following churches:

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Worcester, MA

Latter Rain Christian Fellowship, Ashland, MA

Discovery Church, Orlando, FL

Pine Castle United Methodist Church, Orlando, FL

I attended several other churches. Some I forget the names of. All were of the Christian faith and teachings.

So, what I say here comes from a place of someone who has, like many non-believers once believed.

My experience as a Christian was what you see above. It was like a jumble of thoughts and feelings of joy that covered up some serious fears I didn’t dare address. How could I? If any of my afeared questions were to be true, how would I come to grips with such a grave reality? I often wonder, is what I experienced more or less universal among believers or was I unusually paranoid? My lifelong doubt led to a long journey away from the church’s teachings allowing me to separate the clamor of thoughts from the underlying fears I had so I could deal with each of them appropriately to make my peace. That’s how I became an atheist.

A simple search on the subject of Christian doubt reveals frustrating references to scriptures such as blogger Cheryl Stotesbery’s explanation, “Perhaps the primary cause is Satan (Genesis 3:1-6).” A more formal search produces doubt eradication reasoning like that of the American Baptist Church USA (ABCUSA). The ABCUSA includes doubt in their vision statement, but only to say, “The heart of the gospel is God's redemptive love. In our life together, the world will see the power of forgiveness to overcome alienation, the strength of love to transform hate, the power of grace to break the bonds of guilt, the triumph of hope over despair, and the victory of faith over doubt.” Again to a nonbeliever, this is frustratingly cyclical.

I understand the logic that relates everything good, bad, holy and unjust to biblical scripture. That is the whole point of using the bible as the primary reference point for all topics of faith discussion. What I don’t understand - and really would like some comment on (other than what I pose below) – is how believers can overlook the drastic changes in believer’s opinions of scripture throughout history? I know what the retort is – ‘Just because certain people used scriptures like Genesis 9 25-27 to justify slavery, doesn’t make those people right in the eyes of god. There are several scriptures that make it clear slavery is a sin.’

OK, so doesn’t that bring up a vital point when examining the bible? If a book is contradicting itself, how can you trust any of it to be true? Of course, to this I have usually heard things like, ‘I’m not going to talk to you about this. You’re not going to change my mind so just drop it.’

For a long, long time I did just drop it. I thought, ‘We are never going to see eye to eye so it’s a waste.’ And then as I found my own voice I realized just dropping it is part of the cycle that needs to be broken.

I am not influenced by Satan when I question the logic of believers. I am not possessed. I can’t prove that of course – just as believers can’t prove I am anything but a normal, logical person.

When I hear Christians say they are a marginalized group, that their rights are being threatened – I am thoroughly confused. They won’t engage me in a civil conversation discussing questions that to a child would seem obvious. What goes through the mind of the believer when you question what seems worth questioning? Do they really feel resolved that they are right and I am wrong? Or is there a schism where part of them insists what they hold to be true is true so they can enjoy the afterlife, see their loved ones again and have something to hold to that makes sense of this life while part of them is too afraid to face the possibility that God may not exist?

As a non believer, I want believers and non believers alike to question me. I invite that. Talking with others can educate me and make me a better person. Isn’t that one of the tenets of learning? Why would it not be applied to matters of faith? Wouldn’t having civilized conversations with people and answering all their questions help a marginalized group become more main stream?

Question for you…

Why do you believe/not believe in God? Please post your reply below.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Would You Follow Me?

Dear Reader,

In an effort to build my audience (seemingly self serving, but read on) please sign up to follow my blog. Much of what I set out to do here is to bring these stories and thoughts to a broader audience. I am interested in finding ways to open the debate with those who support LGBT equality as well as those who currently oppose LGBT rights. Though adding my perspectives to the struggles and victories towards LGBT equality is something I hope inspires others, it is vital to keep exposing more and more people of varying viewpoints to the content posted here.

To follow my blog, please just sign up to the right.

Thank you for support and help to Minimize the Margins.

Alan L. Bounville