I’m screaming for equality. Are you listening? As I marched on Washington, DC for the National Equality March last Sunday with over 250,000 Americans, I felt more alone than ever. It was a perfect sunny day in DC, and I put more than pressure on the ground.
We demand equal rights in all 50 states in every matter governed by civil law. Human rights cannot be prioritized, postponed or compromised. Equality delayed is equality denied. The NEM on Oct. 11 in Washington brought thousands of LGBTQ individuals and straight allies from every part of the nation. The highly successful march through the city and rally on the Capitol were planned by grassroots organizers, without any corporate sponsorship. Although it would have been great to have the Human Rights Campaign’s support, their backbone is not strong enough to galvanize an activist movement. Activist Sherry Wolf said, “We weren’t just organizing a march on Washington; we were marching to organize a movement.” It was the day things changed, and we came together stronger than ever.
The movement was reinvigorated by young activists taking the hands of the seasoned Stonewall veterans. This slow ping-pong battle of some rights sometimes, in some states, is unacceptable. There are millions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, straight and no-label Americans fighting for equal rights now. We are not going away this time.
Why is this a fundamental issue to me? It is the most important cause in my life; it is my life, my basic human dignity. Can you look at me and tell me I am less than someone else because of how I was made? Discrimination against LGBTQ people should be no more provocative to us than discrimination based on race or sex. We live in an apartheid society, where some demographic of the population is denied rights and has separate laws governing it. It is insulting that in today’s world we have old-boys club politicians who barter people’s civil rights with military bills. I could be murdered tomorrow and there would be no hate crimes law. I can’t share my life with the person I love with any protections. I could be fired from my job or denied housing in most all areas of Pennsylvania for just existing, and there would be no laws to fight it.
I am disheartened to attend a school which was so busy, uninterested and divided that I was only one of three students that went. Princeton brought 75. Tiny schools like Connecticut College brought 20 and state schools like Western Connecticut State had large printed banners, t-shirts and over 50 people.
The students who go to the University of Pennsylvania have the finest financial resources and support in the world. I am dazed and confused: we go to one of the most LGBTQ-friendly institutions in the world. We have the oldest and largest LGBT Resource Center in the country. The staff is the best in their field, establishing the national model for LGBTQ Resource Centers. Yet, the students can’t muster the will to march? What is wrong with this picture? On the local, state, federal level: Penn students are appallingly apathetic to LGBTQ rights when the nation requires us to be the most dedicated to the cause.
I am calling upon each and every Penn student to do something. Anything. WAKE UP and be an Ally. Write a letter to Sen. Bob Casey saying LGBTQ rights cannot be prioritized. Speak out when someone uses the word “gay” in a derogatory way. Visit the LGBT Center. Learn how gender expression affects us all. Explain to your parents why equality is urgent. On paper, we have risen above other schools. In practice, we have failed to engage ourselves with the world; and that is the most dangerous form of privilege imaginable. We are the future leaders of this country. I hope Penn will be remembered on the right side of history. I was there, where were you?
Jason Goodman is a College junior and co-chairman of J-BAGEL. His email address is gja@sas.upenn.edu.
An earlier version of this article stated that Bob Casey was a U.S. representative. He is a senator from Pennsylvania.
