For those who may not know me, I am Angel Roberts, a
bisexual/queer woman, an adoring mother, and Storm's devoted wife (though not
legally recognized yet). I have been on the board for the Alliance from its
inception but have recently been voted in as the new Vice President. I was very
wary about taking on this position but our board has faith in me (more than I
often do) and I am determined to do my best.
The Alliance has
come far and accomplished much in the last year and I have to say that I am
bursting with pride at being a part of this organization and its goals for the
future. From the beginning we have been determined to bring a source of
positive support, education, and advocacy to the Fayetteville/Sandhills area.
There are a whole lot of baby steps to take on the way to accomplishing this
goal in its full scope (a LGBTQ Center, a transition home for displaced LGBTQ
youth, a source of legal assistance, a recognized area of PRIDE, a solid PFLAG
chapter for our friends and family, etc....yeah...we don't try to set too high
a bar or anything). I personally feel that we have made some of those steps and
seem to be making constant progress with the help of our community and other
equality minded organizations in our area.
One of the huge
issues on everyone's mind lately has been the passing of Amendment 1 here in
NC. We fought hard against this and our community rallied but there is still so
much misunderstanding and in some cases blatant ignorance out there that this
travesty of state government made it through. Luckily for us, the LGBTQ
community is well versed in taking these types of "kicks" and we are
tough enough that all it does is make us madder, stronger, and more determined
to gain our rights. One could almost shake their head sadly and feel pity for
the other side when they say and do these stupid things. Do they not see the
pattern? Do they not understand that all they have accomplished is making us
dig our "heels" in harder and push back with more grit and
determination? Apparently not. So sad for them. Breaking out the violin as we
speak.
This fight is far
from over and we will put as much energy into it as we can. There are numerous
ways to do this. Many of our allies, individuals and organizations, are putting
themselves out there for protests and making further plans. This is awesome. I
am so very grateful that the community has come so far and the equality minded
have become so determined that they push on with immediate speed and will. I
don't know about the rest of you, but I think that is a pretty impressive
change considering that Storm and I were honestly afraid we were the only LGBTQ
couple in this area at one point, and it really wasn't that long ago.
In addition to the
direct actions that are being planned and implemented, there are some things we
are working on that will put the LGBTQ and straight allies presence here
in a giant spotlight. The big reveal: Fayetteville is having a PRIDE. Not a
parade (that will be next year) but an entire week, actually about nine days,
of specially designed events, maybe a few celebrities, and pure unadulterated
FUN!!! The details will be coming soon and the schedule of events will be
posted on the website. You can check out some of the events already scheduled
by looking for INCEPTION Pride or Owt.rage.us Collective on facebook and the
web. Inception Pride has teamed up with the Alliance to make this the biggest
Pride event in NC. We are beside ourselves with excitement about this event and
what it will mean for our community. Part of this week of events is dedicated
to educating the community about advocacy and how politics (I know, I hate
politics too) affect us. There will also be a huge health and wellness festival
involved. I can't think of anything more positive in the wake of
Amendment 1 passing, can you?
I could go on
forever here and there is much more I have to say about all of the above and a
few other subjects (I could be teeny tiny bit opinionated...maybe) but I don't
want to bore you all to tears at one shot. I have been seeing some things in
the news lately that I will be sounding off about soon. I just felt that
getting this source of positive energy and motivation out there was more
important than the b**ch session I had planned. Let me know what you think.
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