Letter to the editor and readers of The Pine City Pioneer:
The word "pride" in "Gay Pride" refers to that sense of self-respect and personal dignity that each of us in our diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has - just like everyone else. This is the opposite of shame - a technique that was heavily misused in the past to malign and marginalize us – and unfortunately, still is. That is why we gather together to support each other and celebrate our identities during Gay Pride every June. We choose to be open and honest about who we are.
East Central Minnesota is very fortunate that the Men's Circle, a local grass-roots organization, hosts the Annual Picnic in the Park in Pine City. It is a peaceful, fun gathering for LGBT residents and their families, friends and allies. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come to the Pride picnic to get to know us better.
As a former long-time resident of Grasston, I can tell you that we are right here in East Central Minnesota and not over there in Ireland, Canada or Africa. We span the entire political spectrum; some of us are even Republicans! Some of us go to church. Some of us are in committed relationships. Some of us even raise children. We study, work, pay taxes and vote. We also love, hate, laugh, cry, get sick, get well, succeed and fail – just like everyone else.
Ultimately, we want to be treated equally under the law with dignity and respect. Why would anyone want to "protest" this “agenda”?
As for HIV/AIDS, it affects everyone and is therefore a public health issue for every one of us.
Our celebration of Gay Pride is a reminder to each of us that gay people have always been, and will continue to be, a vital part of our society.
Happy Pride.
Lane Lucht
Rochester NY
So a group of gay men and women, their family and friends met to have a picnic? Big deal.
I realize Pine City is a small city of about 3,500 people, but it's still the largest city in Pine County and the county seat. And while you would hope in 2008 that a group of gay men and women gathering would not be viewed as a threat to anything, it was. You see, last year, a group of conservatives and GOP stalwarts decided that the only way they could deal with the horror of a few homosexuals eating potato salad and sloppy joes was to organize what they called a pro-family picnic.
The main organizer called her gathering one "that allows those who believe in the God-ordained, time-tested, healthier alternative lifestyle of marriage between one man and one woman an opportunity to celebrate their uniqueness and unity around old-fashioned, traditional family values."
But traditional family values don't include shunning your neighbors, and repudiating your children.
This will come as a shock to some, but homosexuals are human beings. All are children, some are parents, and many would like to be spouses. Most of them go home to their parents' houses for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and most of them really want nothing more than any of the rest of us want out of life: the chance to fall in love, maybe get married to the right person, maybe raise a family of their own.
At the same time they were holding their "pro-family" picnic, the daughter of the vice president was raising her son, along with her partner. Mary Cheney, as we all know, is a lesbian. She and her partner are forbidden by the laws of the state where they live to marry; indeed, they're forbidden even to extend legal parental rights to both mothers. Their son, Sam, will not automatically go to his mother, Heather Poe, should something happen to his other mother, Mary. And yet he will know that they are both his mother, and as he grows up he will know that no matter what the laws say they are a family, because there is love in that family.
The organizer of the "Pro Family" picnic might say that what Cheney and Poe and their child are doing would make her "blush or vomit," to use her lovely turn of phrase. But I think it's quite different.
I think they're raising a family, the best they can, just like millions of gay, straight, married, divorced, widowed and single parents across the country and the world. And I think that's a wonderful thing. And if she and her fellow bigots can look children like Samuel Cheney in the eye and tell them that their very existence is an abomination and their family is something other than "God-ordained," she's welcome to.
But such an action won't be pro-family. Indeed, it will be as anti-family an action as can be.
Thanks, Lane, for a great op-ed.