Locking Us In Or Locking Us Down?

Everything seems to be pointing to the California Supreme Court's decision on Proposition 8 being handed down tomorrow. Why do I say that? It might have something to do with the adorable barricades being dropped off in the Castro District of San Francisco. Unless they are finally getting around to quarantining all of the 'mos in Castro like Anita Bryant wanted to do back in the day, I'm guessing this looks more like a measure designed to help police when the chaos breaks loose, either positive or negative.

Poignantly, tomorrow also marks the 30 anniversary of the White Night Riots. The riots were in response to Dan White's half-hearted conviction of manslaughter for the murders of Harvey Milk and Mayor Mascone. If you're not familiar, manslaughter is generally used in cases of "accidental" murder… not too accidental when you break into city hall and gun down two victims in two different parts of the building in the head. Needless to say, the LGBT community was none to happy with that ruling, and proceeded to riot through the evening.

Perhaps San Francisco is worried that might happen again? I can tell you this, if the court upholds Prop 8, things won't be sugary and sweet out in the streets.

UPDATE: Looks like this isn't coming down tomorrow after all, but that only leaves next week for the decision. Rumor has it that current mayor and gay rights champion Gavin Newsom asked the court to not hand the decision down on the anniversary of such an important date in gay history.

Take Me To Your Leader Ship

I'm a bit frustrated. Actually, forget that, I'm extremely frustrated. Every time I've opened my RSS feeds in the past week and clicked on my "Gay" grouping to read what the gay blogosphere is talking about, I'm confronted with multiple postings about needing a gay leader. Writers whine about not having another Harvey Milk alive today, or cry about the general lack of direction the LGBT community has right now… and it's getting a bit old.

Here's a real harsh reality we have to face in the Queer world, and I'm just as guilty of it as the next 'mo: we are extremely reactionary and judgmental.

We take all of our leaders and trash them to hell within their first ten minutes of leadership. Why? Because we saw them talking to a conservative figurehead without eating that person's babies. Because they did not immediately thrash out at the latest bit of legislation that did not include free lube for all. Because they chose to attend the rally put together by the Lesbian Activist Front vs. the Gay Liberation League. We quickly assign blame and toss them aside.

The movie Milk has done a lot to show us why we need a leader in this time, and I think that is one of the many reasons we as a community are looking for that leader now. But if we all lived during Harvey's time in San Francisco, I'm quite confident that we would have chided him for even thinking about working with a person like Dan White. Not undeservingly, we've cast a martyr's halo over Milk's life and career, so we wouldn't dare criticize him now, but the point is that we shouldn't criticize our own for crossing the line in the sand from time-to-time.

Does that mean that I now think it's OK for Rick Warren to speak at Obama's inauguration? Nope, not at all. Do I think it's OK for Obama to meet with Warren from time-to-time to hear out the crack-job communities' perspective? Sure, that's not a bad idea.

My point is that if we want a leader, if the LGBT community truly wants someone to stand up and take the helm of this movement, here's what has to happen:

A - We back down from attacking our own
B - We accept that while someone may be an enemy, we may still need them at some point, if only to throw them under the bus
C - We demand the highest of expectations of that leader while also recognizing that she/he is not godly, but merely human
D - We create opportunities for someone to rise to the challenge.

How does one even become a leader in this haze of noise? If there were even someone out there who could lead such a diverse community, are we even able to hear them now? And if we could hear them, would they want to lead?

Milk: Not Just For The Gays?

I don't often get moved to tears by films. They just don't push me very far, and I think most times it's because I don't identify with the character's emotions. Seeing a heterosexual couple's unrequited love on screen for the 18 millionth time doesn't do it for me, not because I'm not hetero, but because that doesn't speak to my experience. Sure, I've had unrequited crushes before, but those were a completely different set of circumstances, and in many of the cases I would never be able to earn the attention of my longing because they simply were not gay, unlike most of these romantic movies where the hetero guy/girl simply annoys the shit out of their opposite sex crush until they give in. But when a film maker takes the time to speak to me, directly to the heart of who I am, then I can truly be moved by a film.

This weekend, I went with my boyfriend and a few friends to see Milk, as we had planned. I know, everyone in the gay blogosphere is raving about how great the movie is. And it's true, the movie is simply brilliant. I related to the characters on so many levels, and I felt strongly about the ideals being espoused by the characters and the film maker. I teared up in more than a few occasions, and my sweet boyfriend who knows me all too well knew exactly when to pacify me with a kiss or caress as the bigots spoke or the police beat innocent people in the streets. As we left the theater, I was awe struck at the power the movie had on me, but was also intrigued to find out that not everyone felt the same way as I did about the movie.

One of my friends just didn't like the movie. What's worse (according to another gentleman we talked to the next day) was that my friend is gay… and apparently, being gay means you must like Milk. I've stated above that I loved the flick, but my friend had some solid reasons why he didn't like the movie. Mainly, he felt the character development was lacking. Truth be told, I think I agree with him there. We were introduced to many characters in the film, and did not see really that much progression in them throughout the picture, which ultimately makes it hard for people to connect to the characters… unless they are passionate about the content or message. Which I am. Which is why I loved it.

Not to say that my friend isn't an activist. He is, but I have a feeling that he doesn't hold quite as liberal views on equality issues as I do, as evidenced by our discussion on hate crime legislation (I'm in favor of it, he's not… we talked about it once, then realized our friendship was more important that a disagreement on public policy). I think that I idolize people like Harvey Milk, that can stand up and fight for our community, and I also think that my friend thinks there are other ways to achieve these same goals. I'm not sure they are mutually exclusive concepts either. Like I said about Corporate Advocacy vs Grass Roots campaigns, I feel they need to coexist to ultimately win. I have a feeling that I'm more the in-the-streets activist and he's more the lobbyist activist.

All that aside, it makes me then wonder how well Milk will do in front of general (read: heterosexual) audiences. Will straight people really connect with the message, or even the characters? I would hope that, even if they do not personally connect, that they get a better perspective on the LGBT community and struggles. Brokeback Mountain did very well in front of straight audiences, but that was not nearly a political picture. Beautiful and tragic, yes, but not political. Milk is political. It's highly relevant. And with all the emotions raging across the country regarding what should be my legal rights to marriage, will "middle-of-the-road" thinkers really get into Milk?

Will Be Seeing

Hopefully tomorrow. I've been excited about this flick for some time now. Please go out and see it this weekend, bring friends and family. Just don't go see it at the Cinemark Theaters please. It would be horribly wrong to watch a movie about one of the biggest figures of the modern gay movement at a theater chain that supported the movement to strip us of our rights.