Hello LeftLinkers
This Saturday in the 34th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots which
sparked the rise of modern Gay Liberation movement.
Earlier this week Radical Women celebrated this occassion with a meeting
titled "In the Spirit of Stonewall -- Queer Liberation is for Everybody!".
On Saturday, Radical Women and Freedom Socialist Party join forces to
host a special Stonewall Rad Movie Night at Solidarity Salon.
Black Is ... Black Ain't
In his final film, Black Is ... Black Ain't, Marlon Riggs, renowned
Black gay producer/director, explores African American identity and
fearlessly challenges homophobia, sexism, patriarchy and racism as it
exists in Black America. This innovative documentary pushes people of
all colours to examine the stereotypes that Black equals male and
heterosexual, while exploring Black feminism.
Dinner will be served at 7 pm and screenings kick off at 7.45 pm
Solidarity Salon: 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick
* Dinner, movie and popcorn $12 * Movie and popcorn only $6 * Wine, beer
and soft drinks available
We hope to see you there. Read the statement below from Radical Women
and the Freedom Socialist Party in the U.S. for 101 good reasons to
mobilise around the slogan "Stonewall Was a Riot -- Now We Need A
Revolution."
Alison Thorne
Melbourne Freedom Socialist Party Branch Organiser
Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women Gay Pride Statement
Act Up for Civil Liberties! Resist Macho Militarism at Home and Abroad
Just weeks ago, George W. Bush, sporting a snappy paratrooper jumpsuit
ensemble, strutted his stuff down the runway of an aircraft carrier.
Camera bulbs flashed as he announced "victory" over Iraq. It is now
clear, however, that the war is far from over - and that Bush's war on
terror has unleashed an assault on the right to privacy and freedom of
association here at home. Just as the public increasingly endorses gay
and lesbian equality, Bush and Congress are turning up the volume on
"you're-with-us-or-against-us" jingoism and using it to dismantle
cherished civil liberties and rights. Thirty-four years after the 1969
Stonewall Rebellion, McCarthyism and spying on one's neighbors are
making a comeback. The rights of political and sexual minorities,
immigrants, women and youth are under attack. It's time to fight back
before we lose everything we've won.
Rightwing fanaticism in the Capital.
As queers we've faced off against scary people in Washington D.C.
before. What's different today is how openly and brazenly the government
promotes religious fundamentalism, monopoly capitalism and macho
militarism. Attorney General John Ashcroft sermonizes against abortion
rights and affirmative action, leads daily Bible classes on the job, and
tried to ban Justice Department employees from holding their annual Gay
Pride event. He also permits pension-stealing crooks from Enron to go
free while overseeing drug raids on folks dispensing state-sanctioned
medical marijuana. While governor of Pennsylvania, Homeland Security
czar Tom Ridge signed a bill banning same-sex marriages and was praised
by the conservative Commonwealth Foundation as "the most pro-business
reformer in state history." And now, President Bush is poised to sign a
bill criminalizing safe abortion procedures and shredding Roe v. Wade.
Funding imperialism with stolen tax dollars.
The money to pay for the rightwing's colonial wars and corporate
bailouts has to come from "somewhere" - and that somewhere is social
services. In 2003 alone, the Department of Defense will gobble up $396
billion tax dollars. The price of just one Stealth bomber - $2.1 billion
- would cover the annual cost of all essential domestic HIV prevention
activities. Gay seniors face the erosion of social security and sky-high
prescription drug costs. Massive blows to education, homeless services,
and environmental protections are jeopardizing the futures of queer
youth. Welfare policies now promote "abstinence until marriage" programs
that discriminate against non-traditional families. For those who think
electing a Democrat next year will stop these atrocities, don't forget
it was Bill Clinton who first gave us Don't Ask, Don't Tell, welfare
"reform," and sent bombers over Belgrade and Baghdad.
Cultural straightjacket.
In promoting their boot camp ethic, Bush and Co. have launched a culture
war in which lesbians, gays, bis and transgendered folk are easy and
frequent targets. Artists and entertainers who dare to dissent, even the
mainstream Dixie Chicks, are subjected to witchhunts orchestrated by
CD-smashing hatemongers from Fox News and Clear Channel. Congress
recently passed the controversial "Rave Act," targeting youth and
circuit parties. And the glorification of warrior violence emboldens
bashers like those who murdered transgender Latina teenager Gwen Araujo
in Newark, Calif.
Criminalizing dissent.
The fight to keep the government out of our bedrooms, bars and meeting
halls goes hand in hand with stopping the phony war on terror. First,
they came for Arab and Muslim immigrants. Next came the Patriot Act, and
its proposed evil twin, the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003
which authorizes G-men to search without warrants, snoop through e-mails
and tap phones. Now, our own city streets are beginning to look like
Baghdad. Officers decked out in military garb and weapons greet every
demonstration. In Oakland on April 26, cops used rubber bullets and
concussion grenades on unionists and antiwar activists, including many
queers, who were protesting military shipments to Iraq. The scenario was
repeated June 2 at Seattle's "No Big Brother" rally, called to expose a
national meeting of the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit, a private
association of spies and police chiefs who engage in domestic surveillance.
At this rate next year's Pride paraders will be met with tanks!
Civil rights - use 'em or lose 'em .
The good news is that grassroots groups
around the country are organizing against militarization at home and abroad.
From Out Against the War in San Francisco, to the Chicago Anti-Bashing
Network, to Operation Homeland Resistance in New York, lavender
hellraisers are fighting back. Momentum is also building to defend
conscientious objector Stephen Funk, a young, gay Filipino American
Marine reservist who is being charged with de-sertion for his refusal to
join the carnage in Iraq. And we are not alone. Along with Black and
Latino victims of racial profiling, feminists, unionists facing
harassment on the picketline, and antiwar and globalization protesters -
we are the majority! Together we can organize to establish elected
Civilian Review Boards to control cops, and demand that local
governments refuse to implement the police state tactics of the Patriot
Act. Ultimately, it is within our power to replace this profit-driven,
warrior culture with a socialist society based on sharing wealth so that
everyone has access to medical care, housing, education, employment and
pensions. Such a society is not a dream but a necessity. And since U.S.
capitalism has failed miserably to meet these basic needs, it is our
constitutional right and moral obligation to advocate a revolutionary
change in the system - regardless of what the fanatics in Washington,
D.C. say. A new world is possible if we fight for it!
www.socialism.com
..
--
--
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
