By Greg Varnum, Acting Executive Director, National Youth Advocacy Coalition
As our movement makes important strides forward, it’s important that all of us, especially those of us haven’t been around as long, look back at the important accomplishments that brought us here. It’s up to all of us to remind each other to occasionally take the time to do this. It’s also very important for folks who have any piece of this valuable historical knowledge to share it.
Maybe it’s just because I’m a bit of a history geek, but I’m really excited about the film Milk coming out later this year. As I’ve shared my excitement with others, I’ve been surprised at other young activists who can’t imagine why I would be looking forward to a biopic about the legendary Harvey Milk. “Was he gay?” one young LGBT activist asked me.
After joyfully recounting some highlights of Harvey Milk’s story to my friend, I couldn’t help but feel a little worried that my telling of this story was the first they had ever heard. During the whole ENDA fiasco, I was often frustrated by people working on the issue who were not familiar with ENDA’s roots back to the 1974 “Gay Rights Bill.”
“How can you argue over a compromise when you’re unfamiliar with the list of compromises that has haunted this bill?” I found myself asking people.
There are been many instances where I’ve felt like if the people I was working with on a project had a better sense of the history of the issue or what has been done in the past, things would have happened more smoothly and faster. I’ve come to realize that the source of this problem is not just some activists’ lack of interest in learning our rich history or understanding why doing so is so vital to effectively doing our work. I’ve had several experiences where I’ve felt belittled by folks who have a wealth of personal experience with LGBT history.
I’ve spent hours reading books about LGBT history, interviewing historical LGBT figures to help preserve their experiences, studying the LGBT movement in college and watching as many LGBT historical films I could get my hands on. There are many people who have a richer knowledge of LGBT history than I do, but I like to think that I’m at least a little educated on the topic.
When a name or historical topic comes up that I’m not familiar with, I am often compelled to ask for more information. I’m sad to report that the broader the scope of my work has become, I find people around me less tolerant of these questions. In one fell swoop, I am sometimes left feeling scolded for not knowing the answer and left not having the answer to my question. I’ve heard other young activists express their own frustration with feeling scolded for not having been born 40 years earlier.
The story of how our movement got here is too important to not take the time to learn. It’s also too valuable to not share it with others, particularly inquiring minds. I often talk about the middle road that exists in youth engagement work. This is a perfect example. Young people need to recognize that taking the time to understand what’s come before us is a vital ingredient to our plans of effectively doing our work moving forward. Folks who possess any historical knowledge -- which is everyone who has been doing this work for more than a day -- should share the knowledge they have without lecturing or scolding the person they’re sharing it with for not knowing it in the first place.
Ironically one day after I wrote my initial draft of this piece, a tool for helping address this issue literally fell into my lap. The folks at Amulet Books will be releasing a book this October by Linas Alsenas, Gay America: Struggle for Equality, which is the most up to date, if not the first and only, LGBT history book written specifically for young people. They were kind enough to send me an advance copy and I was impressed with what I’ve seen. I’ve had a chance to speak with the publishers and feel this book is a genuine effort to raise awareness of our movement’s history among today’s young people. Personally, I’d love to see a copy of it in every library and school in the U.S.
A LGBT historian I’ve had the pleasure of working with from time to time once told me that he feels one way he contributes to our movement is by learning as much about our history as he can, and sharing all that he has learned with others. I think we could all benefit greatly from adding this strategy to our own.
About the National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC)
Serving youth for over 15 years, the National Youth Advocacy Coalition is the leading social justice organization that advocates for and with young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning in an effort to end discrimination against these youth and to ensure their physical and emotional well-being. For more information about our work, please visit www.nyacyouth.org.
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