Hot Lezbos in Action! (aka Smart Prop 8 Commentary)

Claire Light
November 21, 2008

Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa breaks down the issues surrounding Prop 8 for us all, including:

  1. Whom "civil rights" belong to (i.e. not just African Americans).
  2. Who is queer: just white men?
  3. Why it's actually not okay for black churches involved in the Civil Rights Movement to oppress anyone else.
  4. Why we need to deal with "our own" dysfunction -- i.e., Latinos and Asians.
  5. Why everyone needs to advocate for queer rights.
  6. And how no one is free if anyone is oppressed

While Gigi's video is long, it sort of has to be, because so many
bloggers have been reducing this issue to one or two issues, and Gigi's
point is that this is a conjunction of a number of issues, all of which
have validity, but none of which cancel each other out. Listen to the
whole thing, because the furious Prop 8/PoC debate has been covering or
glossing over a number of issues that are essential to understanding
what is happening.

In case you were wondering, Gigi is a queer, butch, multiracial, Asian, Latina, multidisciplinary performer, cultural worker, and entrepreneur. She is in a loving, long-term partnership in San Francisco, so Prop 8 directly affects her. This video blog is new for her, but I hope she keeps it up. You can follow her on Facebook and MySpace.

Here's a link to the "Open Letter to White Activists" blog post she responds to in her video.
 

Categories: 
News and Politics
Race
Contributor: 

Suggested Reads

Crazy Rich Asians and What We Lose in the Fight for Respectability
Peter Yew Police Brutality Protests (In front of New York City Supreme Court)
Closed to Protest Police Brutality
Where Are You From?

Comments

Comments

callipygian wrote on Sun, 11/23/2008 - 1:53pm
that's pretty good for a first video blog. long? yes. hard to sit through the whole thing? yes. while i commend the effort and the bravery of the video, i don't think it really provided anything new to the debate. it's like yeah..ok, that's what a person of her background is supposed to do...speak up. but it became just another expected angry tirade that can hardly change minds.weather "marriage" itself as a "necessary human need" is a debatable. "marriage" itself is a practice created by the religious, so obviously, the religious would want to protect it if part of their basic moral belief is challenged...or encroached upon. the problem is all the little perks that the religiously influenced legislature have given to this thing call "marriage". not only the laws give perks for being "married", but social pressure too, especially within traditional communities like asians. "traditions" that we are also trying to protect.
Frankly Speaking wrote on Sun, 11/23/2008 - 9:47pm
1. If anyone is brave enough to stand up to the ststus-quo and stop sucking cock then maybe, someone else would be recognized in the civil right movement2. This has to be the most stupidist thing ive ever heard, are only white men queer. delete this question.3. All the other minorities have benefitted from the black churches being at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Those Civil Right Amendments do not apply only for blacks. I mean getting hung, sprayed, beat and wopped for looking different is not a choice. A white gay man in the 60s still live better than most blacks.3. Only Asians can express the the social problem in the asian community, same for Latinos4. Im sorry, but to be honost, I could care less what goes on the gay community5. Because the church will not recognize a man to marry another man, HOGWASH. Thats your choice. I dont care what those idiotic studies say. Gays do have civil rights, please.This article might put some since in your heads read it.http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/nov/20/african-american-civil-gay-rights
claire wrote on Sun, 11/23/2008 - 10:36pm
Frankly,i'm just guessing, but you didn't watch the video, did you? I guess this because gigi actually dealt with each one of your points in her video.i'd appreciate it if you'd comment on the VIDEO, which is what we're discussing here, and not my paraphrase of the video. thanks.
Frankly Speaking wrote on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 8:38am
ClaireI shouldve watch the video first and I do agree her with most of her points.
lin wrote on Tue, 11/25/2008 - 11:41am
This is a democracy and not a theocracy! No minority group (women, asians, blacks, hispanics, immigrants, etc,) is safe if we accept that one group can be oppressed. If it is ok to oppress gays why not asians? The jump is not that large.