------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 23, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
LESBIAN, GAY, BI, TRANS: "WE STAND AGAINST THE WAR!"-- AN INTERVIEW WITH WARRIOR JESSE HEIWA By Leslie Feinberg "There are lesbian, gay, bi and trans groups all around the country who are organizing locally against the war," Jesse Heiwa told Workers World. "And a coalition of more than 17 groups have signed into a statement asking other LGBT organizations to take a stance against the war. That coalition includes the diversity of our communities--from Al Fatiha, an LGBT Muslim group, to the National Youth Advocacy Coalition and an umbrella organization called Queers for Peace and Justice." Heiwa, a person of color, is a self-identified queer and anti-racist activist who also does alternative media work with WBAI radio. He is a long-time and deeply respected fighter for social and economic justice. When Jesse Heiwa takes the podium in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18 in front of a massive anti-war audience, he will speak for many lesbian and gay, bisexual and trans people of all nationalities across the country who are working hard to stop this war before it starts. What message will he deliver? Heiwa said, "That it's important for queer folk to come out against the war." Heiwa explained, "The term 'queer' to me is an inclusive term incorporating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, same- gender-loving and all the other names we call ourselves. And also it's a political term that reminds us of our need to link up with all the issues that affect our lives: racism, sexism, homophobia and class oppression." What message will Heiwa bring to those who watch the rally--those bundled up in overcoats in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol Building and those watching satellite transmission from the warmth of their homes? "Not only does the war affect the LGBT communities directly by taking money away from all the programs, such as AIDS, queer youth support and anti-violence programs. It also means that LGBT people--both in the U.S. military and in Iraq--are going to be directly affected. And we shouldn't be fighting each other, we should be fighting against the war." Heiwa points to a recent report that the Pentagon brass might temporarily suspend its "don't ask, don't tell" policy of witch-hunts against LGBT people in military--but only for the duration of the war. He asks, "Why should we fight in a military that oppresses people around the world and is not for defense--the same Pentagon that tells us our lives only matter when they're used to kill other people?" And adds, "As people who are oppressed, we need to speak out in support of other people who are oppressed--particularly Arabs, Muslims and South Asians being targeted by selective registration and imprisonment." Taking a strong stand against war and racism is not new for the left- wing current of the LGBT movement, Heiwa notes. "Queer people have always been involved in anti-war and social justice organizing and it's no different now." He will stand at the dais as a powerful representative of that left-wing current that arose out of a rebellion in Greenwich Village on a hot summer night in 1969 in response to police repression. And he will state, "We are here--a vital part of the anti-war movement. And as a group of people once made to wear the pink triangle in the Nazi concentration camps that signified our oppression, we stand in solidarity with those who are today facing the full wrath of this government, which is waging war around the world." - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
