Keith Boykin talks to Gay.com about his experience in becoming an activist and how this has caused some problems for him in his desire to represent himself. It’s easy to ignore the world around you and live a hermit life away from the problems of the real world, only concerned with what’s impacting your corner of space, but at the same time any activist will tell you it’s also disarmingly easy to get sucked into being ‘the voice’ for many people. If you’re personable, presentable, goood looking, media-savvy, chatty, intelligent or just eager then you’ll likely get volunteered to be the mouthpiece for yourself and your friends.
I’m not an activist at the moment, because I don’t know yet what exactly I care enough about to campaign for. I don’t know where my efforts would best be focused. When I find out though, when I come to some epiphanic conclusion, you can be sure I’ll be out there fighting, just don’t assume that’s the only thing I care about. What I care about is as varied as the people on the street, the books in the library and the autumn leaves blowing across my feet. Activism is only fun when you’ve got others to share the experience with, to laugh at the highs and mellow in the lows. If you care about as many things as I do, if you care at all, think about who you’d like to campaign for; we all should have a cause.
I have no regrets about my experiences, but I’m eager to find new leaders who can learn from their own experience. In recent years, I’ve spoken to LGBT high school students, recruited talented college activists to join the board of the National Black Justice Coalition and opened my Web site to new expressions from young columnists. But the more I did, the harder it was to get others involved.
Unwittingly, I had become an obstacle to my own recruitment plans. The more visible I became, the more difficult it was for others to become visible. Whenever I suggested that others should speak, I continued to be called on to speak instead. So last month, I decided to take a stand. I shut up. After the Millions More March, I got calls from CBS News, Essence Magazine, the Boston Globe, The Advocate, National Public Radio, Air America Radio and numerous other media outlets looking for a comment, and I told them all the same thing: Talk to someone else, please. I don’t want to be pigeonholed solely as black and gay. I’m proud of who I am, but I’m more than the sum of my identities.
Gay.com: Developing the next Rosa Parks
This reminds me of an article I read earlier in the year, from the Seattle PI, where one of their columnists bemoans the lack of representation and public concern for gay rights legislation in Washington State. In a State that’s perceived as one of the most liberal, West-Coast hippy places in the country, the Democrat led legislature and executive can’t put through any legislation protection citizens from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Why? Because people in the state don’t think it’s an issue to get worked up about. People are so apathetic or so accepting that they don’t think of gay rights as something that needs fighting for; it’s already there. But because there’s a lack of profile for the issue and pressure on the politicians, elected officials are able to shirk off their responsibilities to their constituents.
This is why we need activists: someone needs to shepherd every cause along. Issues don’t come to prominence by themselves, there needs to be push, profile building and argument to get those who don’t care to at least understand.
The Democrats rule the House. Democrats control the Senate by a slim margin. They have even got their candidate, Christine Gregoire, in the governor’s mansion.
Yet despite this, two conservative Democrats in the Senate joined Republicans last week to derail a civil rights bill that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. …There’s [a] disturbing wrinkle arising from last week’s vote: apathy from the mainstream. People did voice anger on Capitol Hill, but that’s to be expected from a Seattle neighborhood that is the heart of the region’s gay community.
Just as bad is the deafening silence about the bill’s fate from quarters that should know better. Civil rights groups such as the ACLU, the NAACP and Equal Rights Washington are familiar with the pain of injustice. These organizations have mewled instead of roared — if they have said anything at all.
The quiet is unnerving.
Seattle PI: Robert L. Jamieson Jr: Who will stand up for gay rights? Anyone?
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