Connect with us

Fall-ing

Published

on

Despite the 72 degrees here in Manhattan, there’s a crispness in the air. It’s fall, the season that is supposed to represent the beginning of dormancy, a shortening of summer’s long days and fun times, a letting-go of play and a return to the seriousness of work.

And yet, I don’t think America had a fun summer.

We had the attack of the birthers and deathers. We had play-cowboys with real guns attend presidential speeches and congressional town halls. For all our focus on health care this summer, few have realized the tremendous irony shooting us in the face: America is a country in the midst of a nervous breakdown.

Bob Herbert reminded me of this, yesterday morning when he wrote,

“Looking back at the past few months, it’s fair to wonder if the country isn’t going through a nervous breakdown… We need therapy… The first step, of course, is to recognize that we have a problem.”

A problem, indeed.

I often write about “the gay community.” Truth be told, there isn’t one. Like the “straight community,” there are many. Both have many different ideas, ideals, morals, goals, and behaviors. And yet, some within “the gay community” spent a good part of the spring trying to get what the “straight community” already has: civil marriage.

Legal recognition of our equality is what a great many of us are trying to obtain. But there are a few things, perhaps more important, that we need to achieve first: an across-the-board recognition within the gay community that we actually want and deserve equality, and that we have the willingness to fight for it. And the one pre-requisite that has to happen before any of this: we have to start acting like it.

Herbert wonders if America is going through a nervous breakdown. I think the gay community is.

Despite our marriage equality wins this spring, despite our collective temper-tantrum that led to the Hate Crimes Bill making its way through Congress and talk of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the gay community is too silent on matters that affect us just as much if not more deeply than those the rest of the country is confronting.

Yes, there are bright spots. Grass-roots organizations and individuals are making a difference every day. My fellow gay writers and bloggers work long days, often without any compensation, to help move the ball forward. And we’re having some success.

But the straight community, in the form of conservatives, gay marriage opponents, and the religious right, have enslaved us for far too long. And its taken its toll.

Because most of us can’t get married, we approach relationships differently. Our opponents like to say we have all the rights we need (and deserve.) What they don’t talk about is the security they have that comes in the form of societal recognition. We know that the bond of marriage is not only a goal, but an aid to maintaining a relationship through troubled times. It’s a lot easier to walk away when there are no legal issues, common property, children, or even the reaction of family, friends, and neighbors to stop you.

And because we don’t have this responsibility, we often don’t act with the same level of responsibility that straights purport to have. Much to our detriment, and, dare I say, much to the secret delight of our foes, we are still acting as teenagers, more interested in fun and sex for today than taking a healthy interest in achieving equality tomorrow.

While there are a great many long-term same-sex relationships, gay relationships aren’t necessarily long-lasting – not because we’re not capable or desirous of long-term relationships, but because society has not put the same focus on same-sex marriage that it has on “traditional” marriage.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

Republican Says Trump on Immigration Could Be Like Lincoln Was for Slavery

Published

2 hours ago

on

July 16, 2025

By

U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) is calling on President Donald Trump to support her bipartisan bill that would grant temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, allowing them to remain in the United States. On immigration, Congresswoman Salazar says Trump could be just like Reagan was for communism or Lincoln was for slavery.

“There’s no way we can grow as a country and continue being the number one economy in the world if we don’t have hands,” Salazar said, referring to immigrant workers. “So let’s be intelligent. Let’s just bring them out of the shadows, make them pay—something that they’re not paying right now. Make them pay a fine, no federal programs, and they can go home for business, and they can buy a home.”

Her plan, the Dignity Act, would not provide amnesty or a path to citizenship. But, she says, it “offers a strong, commonsense approach and focused on putting American interests first.”

READ MORE: ‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

Salazar praised President Trump, saying with his so-called One Big beautiful Bill, “the economy is going to gonna burst, just like it happened in 2019.”

“I go back to the president. The president is the guy who can make this happen. There is no other president like Trump. Look what he did with Iran. Look what he did Venezuela, with China.”

“So I have no doubt, I have faith that he could be for immigration, what Lincoln was for slavery, and Reagan was for communism.”

Critics blasted Salazar’s comparisons.

“Rep. Salazar has used this line a few times and while I understand what she *means* to say I respectfully submit that she has not thought through the implications of what she *actually* said,” remarked attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. He added: “hint: Reagan was not good for Communism and Lincoln was not good for slavery.”

“Maria Salazar comparing Trump to Lincoln on slavery and Reagan on communism is beyond absurd,” wrote investment banker Evaristus Odinikaeze. “Lincoln fought to end human bondage. Reagan opposed totalitarian regimes. Trump put kids in cages, demonized immigrants, and ran on fear, not freedom. History will remember the difference. Seems like she meant to compare Trump to Nixon, not Lincoln.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

 

 

Continue Reading

News

‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

Published

5 hours ago

on

July 16, 2025

By

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has a blunt message for undocumented farmworkers: “Go home.” She’s urging farmers to assist in the process—by helping those workers “self-deport.”

“I would encourage everybody,” Secretary Noem said on Wednesday, “if people are here in this country illegally, go home.”

“I mean, the law is the law, and we are upholding the law, and, the President is very clear that he doesn’t believe that the law should apply to some people and not to others—that there should be consequences for some people and not for others,” she said.

President Donald Trump has said that he and his administration are working on a plan to help farmers keep their undocumented workers, many of whom, he said, are “almost impossible to replace.” Trump suggested some form of sponsorship might be possible in the future, where farmers would be responsible for their workers who are undocumented.

READ MORE: Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

Noem said that every undocumented person, including the undocumented farm workers—has “the opportunity right now to self deport.”

“We will buy their plane ticket and when they land, they will be able to get $1,000 in their hand to care for their families, and they get the chance to come back, she claimed. Federal law places bans on some of those trying to return, in some cases for up to ten years.

“And so, that’s what I think is so remarkable, is that we will let them come back the right way, and we’re facilitating that today,” she insisted.  “So every individual that’s here in this country that’s concerned, or every farmer out there that has somebody that’s working for them, that’s concerned, you know, you know, work with getting them home, so they can come back and get in the right way.”

READ MORE: ‘Divine Providence’: Johnson Paints Trump as ‘Miraculously’ Spared by God

Jeremy Konyndyk is the president of Refugees International.

He says, “Farmers face financial ruin over deportations.”

Noem’s “claim that people can ‘come back’ after self-deporting is ludicrous on its face,” Konyndyk adds. “Why then deport in the first place? And in any case, that does nothing for farmers who need crops picked NOW.”

President Donald Trump’s favorability on immigration continues to drop. What was once among his most positive categories now has him underwater.

“About half (52%) of Americans think that Trump’s approach to immigration policy is too harsh; 36% think it is about right and 7% think it is too soft,” according to a YouGov poll report published Tuesday. “At the start of Trump’s term, significantly fewer — 40% — thought his approach to immigration was too harsh; 43% thought it was about right and 4% said it was too soft. The largest shift has been among Independents: 57% currently think Trump’s approach is too harsh, up from 36% in January.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Popping Champagne’: Russia Scoffs, Snubs Trump’s 100% Tariff Ultimatum

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

News

Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

Published

8 hours ago

on

July 16, 2025

By

President Donald Trump is denying multiple reports that he intends to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, even as he continues to criticize him and express frustration over the Fed’s refusal to cut interest rates to the levels he has demanded. The Federal Reserve is an independent central bank, and the President has no legal authority to dictate its actions. On Wednesday, Trump criticized Powell, appeared to forget that he appointed him, and blamed President Joe Biden for his nomination.

Should Trump attempt to fire Powell, it would be an unprecedented move. The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated there are limits to the President’s authority to remove Fed officials.

On Tuesday evening, in a meeting with Republican lawmakers, Trump asked their opinion of firing Powell, whom he nominated in late 2017. Powell was renominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. The chairman of the Federal Reserve serves four-year terms, and Powell’s expires next year.

READ MORE: ‘Loathsome’: Fox Host’s ‘What Up, My Nazi?’ Rant Slammed by Civil Rights Icon

“The President asked lawmakers how they felt about firing the Fed Chair. They expressed approval for firing him. The President indicated he likely will soon,” a senior White House official told CNBC, NBC News reported.

“A recent Supreme Court decision indicated that the president does not have the authority to remove Fed officials at will,” NBC also reported.

But CNBC later reported that Trump denies he plans to fire Powell.

“We’re not planning on doing it,” he said. “It’s highly unlikely.”

Minutes ago, in the Oval Office, Trump appeared to forget he had been the first to nominate Powell as Fed chair. He told reporters that Powell is a “terrible Fed chair,” and he was surprised he had even been appointed. Trump added, “I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him.”

Responding to the video (below) the House Ways and Means Democrats asked, “Did he forget?”

U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) wrote: “Legit question, does he have memory issues? Or does he remember but doesn’t want people to know that this is his fed chair? I just want a normal leader in this job….”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Divine Providence’: Johnson Paints Trump as ‘Miraculously’ Spared by God

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.