 "Photo: Nathalie Mendez")
Ten years ago this week, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was beaten, tortured, tied to a fence and left for dead. When discovered, he was in a coma and remained so until he died five days later.
Though the full details of that event may never be known, it has long been suspected that the severity of the attack may have been motivated by the fact that Shepard was gay. His death led to a wave of attention toward hate crime legislation that continues to this day.
What you may not know, though, is that the United States has yet to pass federal legislation specifically designed to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender citizens. Most recently, the Matthew Shepard Act — a proposed amendment to broaden the 1969 U.S. federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability — was dropped due to opposition from conservative groups and President George Bush.
This was a major topic Tuesday night in a half-full McKnight Hall during a speech by civil rights activist Elizabeth Birch. “The U.S. policy machine is like a slug moving across a hot desert,” Birch said. “It’s been left in the dust by Canada and a number of European countries.”
Birch, who is openly lesbian, served as executive director of the Human Rights Campaign from January of 1995 to January of 2004, was the worldwide director of litigation for Apple Computer prior to that, and one of the first openly gay executives in America.
“Our nation has never been as close to being a theocracy as it is today,” Birch said. “There has been a sharp rise in fundamentalism about what’s right and what’s wrong, not just across this continent, but five continents. Ideology and theology hold the power in Washington. Their offspring doesn’t always have to be bad, but it is always blind.”
Despite this view, Birch offered another outcome for the future of the U.S.: “We’re also on the verge of coming out of a fog. The next 29 days will decide many, many years for us and our children. With the upcoming election, we have the chance to turn our back on division and dehumanization.”
In clarifying this statement, Birch referred to what she considers an important lesson South Africa taught the world during the rise of its post-apartheid democracy. Nelson Mandela insisted upon outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation when the nation’s new constitution was drafted, making it the first in the world to do so.
“After fighting so hard to include everyone, he wasn’t going to leave anyone out,” Birch said. “We need a leader like this. We have to reclaim our moral leadership and our ability to treat other nations with respect. I truly believe Barack Obama is our best hope.”
While acknowledging McCain as a hero and thanking him for voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment, Birch said he’s no longer the man he was. “I worked very hard during the ‘90s to get McCain onto our issues,” she said. “He was immovable on what he believed in. Now, what he believes is up for grabs.”
One of the speech’s main points was summarized by a story Birch said “humans in all civilized nations need to know.” The story was that of Roy and Silo, a gay penguin couple in New York’s Central Park Zoo. The two tended the egg of a heterosexual couple that had been unsuccessful in hatching two eggs at once.
“After six weeks, Tango, a little girl, was born. Tango grew up straight.”
After the speech, a Q and A was held with Birch, followed by a reception in the Lucas Room of the Cone Center. During the reception, attendees were able to meet Birch and ask her further questions.
Birch’s speech is part of OUTSpoken, a speaker series at UNCC created to focus on LBGTQ issues. The program is a cooperation between UNCC’s Counseling Center, Women’s & Gender Studies program, the Multicultural Resource Center and UNCC PRIDE.
One UNCC junior in attendance, who declined to be named, described the speech as the first event of its kind she had attended. “Part of the reason I came was for extra credit, but the real reason is I’ve been questioning myself about whether I want to come out as a lesbian. I just wanted to hear what she had to say, and I really liked what I heard.”
“I was surprised at how political it was,” said Annie Mullen, a communication studies student. “I still enjoyed it, but I was expecting it to be more informative with regard to the role of gay civil rights in the business world.”
Fatima Mann, a political science student, said she appreciated hearing an open lesbian’s point of view. “She was highly political, but she was honest. You knew where she was coming, and I can respect that kind of honesty.”
OUTSpoken member Braxton Midyette described the evening as an overall success. “I wish there had been more people in the audience, but I felt there was a lot of positive energy. Elizabeth was wonderful. I love her in every way a gay man can love a lesbian woman.”
