Southwest Environmental Justice Initiative

Dear Friends,

Facing a potential ban on same sex marriage here in California has been one of the most frustrating parts of this election process, not to mention having to watch a couple of hateful white people proclaim their "every man"-ness and love of this country and it's people.

But this article someone recently sent out on a list I belong to is a clear reminder that while queer folks and their allies work diligently to acknowledge the rights belonging to every single being living on this beautiful planet to love whomever they choose, there is still a lot of work to do to break through the "ism"s that exist, even in our united movements for justice. Why is it that oppressed peoples sometimes follow in the footsteps of the oppressor and suppress the recognition and rights of others in their own groups? White women did this ages ago during the movement for women's equal rights to their sisters of color. And on and on, there are plenty of examples of this in our complicated history as human beings.

It's (long past) time for us to realize that racism is rampant in every single movement for justice - in fact, racism is often the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. To simply be on the side of "right" in these struggles isn't enough, we all have baggage, no matter how progressive we are. We need to constantly and sincerely challenge our assumptions and perspectives about our movements for change, as well as our place within those movements.

Please take a brief moment and read this article (a bit dated, but nonetheless, important) about how Native American Two Spirit folks are being neglected in the larger LGBTQ movement: http://nativeout.com/content/view/225/55/

We can do something about this. We can educate ourselves and continue to challenge ourselves to be better and stronger allies in the movement for justice.

Lots of love,
LaLa