Dallas gay activists square off on equality strategy

August 26, 1:28 AMDallas GLBT Events ExaminerJW Richard

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Our city’s main gay paper, The Dallas Voice, sponsored the monthly Freedom of Speech night with host, 1360 AM Rational Radio personality, Jack E. Jett. This particular debate was about the tactics used to press for LGBT equality between local activists involved with groups like Stonewall Democrats and Fairness Fort Worth compared to the local direct-action collective, Queer LiberAction.
 

Since the election and inauguration of President Barack Obama, various American communities have been anxiously working towards marriage equality for gays and lesbians and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. With the passage of California’s Proposition 8, which by popular vote, made gay marriages illegal just six months after the California Supreme Court decision legalized gay matrimony, many individuals in the gay community were disillusioned and angry with mainstream gay organizations like Stonewall Democrats and planned a variety of rallies and protests in order to keep local, regional, and national attention on these issues.
 

Queer LiberAction has staged various demonstrations in Dallas and Ft. Worth to bring a call to action, but not without controversy from others in the D/FW gay community. During a recent city hall meeting in Ft. Worth, Queer LiberAction founder was ejected, along with 5 others, after demanding that the Rainbow Lounge investigation be moved further up the agenda. Several Dallas and Ft. Worth residents, who gave their unfiltered opinion on a recent Dallas Voice article written by Stonewall Democrats’ vice-president Jay Narey, felt their QL’s demonstrations inside and outside the Ft. Worth City Council meeting were an embarrassment to the community.
 

At the meeting, Mike Lo Vuolo and Jay Narey, both affiliated with the Stonewall Democrats, declined to represent the organization directly in this debate capacity--a position which both Wilkinson and QL board adviser, Rick Vanderslice cited as evidence of the stifling bureaucracy and ineffectiveness found in such organizations. Mr. Narey mentioned that the Ft. Worth City Council meeting was simple "grandstanding" on the part of Blake Wilkinson to grab the attention of the media. Mr. Wilksinson did somewhat concede to this point as an attempt to, as his words, "use the media to bring attention to the cause". During the two-hour debate, there were several concerns voiced from the moderators and the audience, but little promise of future partnership was achieved between the two groups. Mr. Vanderslice stated several times that "if individuals find our tactics embarrassing or unsettling, that is their problem".

One attendant, Daniel Cates, said as an open statement to both groups, "Tonight is evidence of why it’s taken us forty years to make more gains towards equality." The applause he received because of his statement could speak to the disillusionment many Dallas gay individuals find toward local activism in general. However, it's important to remember that just as religion has the possibility of many paths to God, so our quest for LGBT equality calls for everyone to find their passion and work to move the needle upward. Now we just have to spend more time defining that buzzword, equality.