That Fateful Night...

A funny name for an article about one of the gay movement's most pivotal events. And yes I know it was only one of many by the way. But in a way it was Fateful. A long time coming, it was a bold step forward in what would become the battle towards equality. One of the first steps, which everyone knows, is the hardest to take in any journey. And we need to remember those who were part of it. Absolutely without doubt they all must be remembered. Not for what group they claimed membership in but for the fact they without knowing it that VERY FIRST NIGHT were part of starting the fight for rights that all humans have no matter how they are expressed. Specific splintered groups weren't a fraction as important then as today, according to many people I have spoken with who were there. Hence my reference to the "gay human beings simply standing up for being who they were." My statement was meant to be inclusive of everyone in the community. Nothing else. Human beings tired of the oppression which prevented them from being the individuals God meant them to be.

How can anyone profess to know exactly what I meant? Why must people look for double meanings in an attempt to locate supposed prejudice? After all is that not exactly what is being done to us by our detractors? No matter how many times I read over my letter looking for this reference to transgender individuals I just can't seem to find it. And guess what: that's because it simply is not there! It's rather a shame that, because of overly sensitive analysis of one line or paragraph, the overarching theme, remember everybody who has come before us in this struggle, has been lost.

This is the wrong way to deal with any issue of difference or with another person. Jerimarie Liesegang has attacked me without attempting to fully understand what I truly meant. I am further frustrated that she has accused this magazine and all the good people involved with it of being phobic and exclusive to segments of the community. She seems oblivious to the fact that many of these very men and women over the years who have worked so diligently for the cause in this magazine were in fact some of the actual people fighting that fight in the sixties. I wonder if she can even list all of the names of people involved back then, not just selected excerpts. We can list those names because our founding staff members were there and personally knew most all of them.

On June 8 she sent out a media alert from her organization demanding that Metroline respond to her by the end of the month or further actions will be taken. The very next day she had posted a poll on her Web site about what to do next, giving people the option to vote for a protest outside our offices. It seems that actually waiting for our response wasn't serving her cause, so there was no need to wait more than a day or so before posting a poll. Is that fair and open minded? A pleasant call or letter pointing out her concerns should have been a first step, one which we would have accepted gladly for the contribution it may have made. It is very easy to demand respect, but to earn it, it should also be given, and we feel that step was omitted. Neither Metroline, nor any of our staff including myself, ever group everyone into the same basket. I know that the overwhelming majority of the community, bi, trans, drag, pan and every variation do not carry our forward momentum with such aggressiveness, and are good people we respect and support. But I also want you to know Metroline and I do support Jerimarie, and anyone's right to speak their minds and take genuine steps to move us forward as a community.

Many people who wrote in stated in their letter that they assumed I did no research. (You know what happens when you assume, right? Well one person felt it worthy to call me it anyway.) One of the letters informed me that Metroline, and specifically my article, had been forwarded to the Stonewall Veterans Association. Kind of like a big threat. Well it turns out that that very organization was where we verified a substantial amount of our information. I personally had a very nice and supportive talk with the President and Founder. Research? Check. Several of these letters come right out and state that it was members of trans groups that planned and started the whole thing. Now, not for nothing, but with the number of viewpoints in this issue, including those supportive of the transgender community, it is obvious that even some transgender supporters are uncertain of what actually happened. So let me quote for you a little part of an article written in the New York Blade, back in 2004. (Stonewall's Police: present at the creation. by Cyd Zeigler.) Actually, June 4th, 2004 - page 13. Just in case you wondered if I looked that up myself. "Frank Toscano and Tommy Noble were the first uniformed officers on the scene that first night at the Stonewall Inn. Toscano said that a lot of people think it was a drag queen that started what would become the gay revolution that night. But it was in fact this man- of small stature, dark complexion (probably Latino, Toscano said) wearing no shirt and a leather jacket or vest- who started the riot. 'I'm not saying the gay revolution wouldn't have started the next night, but I've always said this little guy was the spark that lit the match.'"

It was this unknown little guy who ran out into the street yelling that the cops were killing people. From there it turned into a 45-minute melee between the gays and the cops. Period. The first night was not in any way, shape or form a rebellion planned by anyone. The next day was. And no one debates that. The "rebellion" actually started the following day when protesters started showing up with the signs and the chants. It was the third night that the paddy wagon full of drag queens was hauled off, according to some sources, including witnesses who were there. And by the following Wednesday it had pretty much subsided as a location of active protests, although others continued elsewhere.

In my statement I was referencing that first night. And what I said was factual. The myth about flaming drag queens (NOT transvestites) antagonizing the police into a fight simply is not true. That first night was when the tempest in the teapot boiled over and everyone there took a stand. TOGETHER, as gay human beings standing up for who they were. No one who was actually there has ever been reported to have been engaged in a turf war of any kind at that time. Why do you have to do it now?

If the trans community is so outraged at being excluded from the community by Metroline or anyone, why did this organization feel a need to have a separate pride celebration? Why didn't they include themselves in a more visual manner at any of the other pride celebrations around the State with an eye towards educating a larger segment of our community?

I have been told by a transgender individual who is in the process of sexual reassignment, sometimes out-loud movements can cause more damage to a trans person. What was explained to me was that a person coming to terms with being a physically different sex than they are inside, and making the decision to change, is an intensely personal transformation that dwarfs coming out of the closet as a gay person. It must be done at a pace as individual as the person making the change. This is interesting stuff, and something that can educate the larger community and help us understand each other better. I am therefore publicly inviting transgender members of the community to submit writings that can reflect and educate as to what you are living through inside. That understanding is what will bring the community closer together.

My formal policy for this magazine while it is under my tenure is as follows: Metroline will support all the glorious diversity the gay community has to offer mankind. We will not support with one single drop of ink anything that tries to divide the community.

Until we all can think and act for ourselves, are we free or equal? We have been given free will so we each can choose our own path through life. If you say to me "I am a good person working for the greater good of all," I say to you "If you truly strive to be good and serve your cause justly, you are a good person. If you don't seek to betray or hurt others with hidden or personal agendas, you are a good person. If you are true to yourself and treat others with respect and dignity, you are a good person. If you do not judge lest you be judged, than you are a good person." However the more a person parades their personal plight or dedication or righteousness for the benefit of others, the less I am inclined to trust the goodness they claim fuels their purpose. I believe that true faith in any cause is rooted in the freedom to believe in it and thus dedicate oneself to furthering that very cause. How can you express yourself in that cause, and here we are talking of true human equality, be it gay, straight, bi, black, white, male, female, trans, or any of the vast number of gloriously diverse variations of humanity, unless you are true in your heart to yourself as a part of your cause and the greater good of all humanity?