Nov 18 2009

300px-Peterloo_Massacre The time was 1819. The location was Manchester, England on a crowded St. Peter's Field. Over 80,000 people stood defiantly to demand reform and an end to hunger in the British Empire. Armed cavalry troops charged into the crowd and it became known as the Peterloo Massacre. In response to the bloodbath, Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote what might be among the first words dealing with civil disobedience. In The Masque of Anarchy, Shelley's first lines in the majestic poem calling for massive resistance say:

"Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war.

And if then the tyrants dare,
Let them ride among you there,
Slash, and stab, and maim and hew,
What they like, that let them do.

With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise
Look upon them as they slay
Till their rage has died away

Then they will return with shame
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek.

Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many — they are few"

For several hundred years, the tactic of passive resistance has become a mainstay of those seeking freedom and justice. Even before Gandhi and his battle against apartheid in South Africa and his fight for India's independence, the Egyptians used the tactic against the British in their 1919 Revolution. Labor embraced civil disobedience with massive occupations of automobile factories in the 1930's demanding the right for economic justice and a living wage. Of course, most Americans are most familiar with Dr. King's call for non-violent resistance in the civil right movement of the 1960's. In Europe in the 1990's, it was the Orange, Velvet and Singing revolutions that successfully used the honored tradition of non-violently disrupting 'business as usual' and breaking the law if necessary for a greater good of freedom, justice and liberty.

Now the time has come for the LGBT community to open up a serious national debate. We must make an informed decision if the time has come for our community to embrace non-violent civil disobedience. We should enter this phase of our struggle for freedom with a total understanding of the short term and long term consequences.

Today, I will briefly outline some of the issues surrounding civil disobedience. Let's be clear what we are discussing here. We are talking about breaking the law to achieve a higher moral ground and our willingness to pay the price of breaking that law. Basically going to jail could mean division from friends and family, possible ramifications at work and most importantly the emotion toll that such actions usually extract from us.

Remember, most often when the tactic is used initially, it is not a popular one with the more establishedBirmingham_campaign_water_hoses members of a community and certainly not with the public. When Dr. King engaged in the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 with mostly students, there was serious doubt in the African-American community about the effectiveness and usefulness of such a campaign. More traditional African-Americans thought it would indeed hurt legislative chances and set back the inevitable trend toward freedom. Many established and 'liberal' media outlets were appalled that the people of Birmingham would put themselves above the law in an attempt to end unjust laws. But few doubt today there would exist a 1964 Civil Rights bill without such non-violent protests.

There is no question that a campaign of planned, effective non-violent civil disobedience would have some short term backlash. There initially would be little support both from in and outside the community. Outside the LGBT community, there would be even less support. Those who would chose to find the right targets to drive the message home for our freedom would have to be very strong individuals with a clear understanding of their own values and principles. They would also have to be prepared to quietly and with dignity be willing to accept the consequences of their actions. More than the actions, it is our willingness to sacrifice ourselves to end oppressive laws, unjust ballot terrorism and violence directed toward our community. That sacrifice will force others to understand our unquenchable thirst for full equality.

Tomorrow, I will share with you my ideas and my opinion on this 'hot topic' but in closing let me leave you with the rest of Shelley's extraordinary poem which most likely will give you a hint of my own views.

"Men of England, heirs of Glory
Heroes of unwritten story,
Nurslings of one mighty Mother,
Hopes of her, and one another;

What is Freedom? Ye can tell
That which Slavery is too well,
For its very name has grown
To an echo of your own

Let a vast assembly be,
And with great solemnity
Declare with measured words, that ye
Are, as God has made ye, free!

The old laws of England--they
Whose reverend heads with age are grey,
Children of a wiser day;
And whose solemn voice must be
Thine own echo--Liberty!

Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many — they are few"