The following is adapted from a speech given by National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) co-founder and CEO, Chance Mitchell, at the 2009 NGLCC National Dinner Nov. 6 in Washington, D.C.
While we all gather tonight to celebrate—and there is much to celebrate—it would not be fair if we did not recognize the success of our brothers and sisters in Washington State and the gut-wrenching hurt of our families in Maine, where just a few days ago, the rights of LGBT Mainers were allowed to be further diminished. I can think of no better example than this one of what the framers of the United States Constitution worked so hard to avoid. The Constitution was drafted to ensure the fundamental rights of a minority group, could not be taken away by a wayward majority. That tyranny of purpose, mind and thought was what drove the Pilgrims to leave hearth, and home, and country behind in the search of a broader purpose and opportunity to live their lives in the way they best saw fit for themselves and their families.
We are hurt. We are angry. But we must continue to tell our stories of who we are as LGBT Americans. We will not allow our image to be tarnished by the rhetoric and propaganda of a wayward few. Our quest will be fashioned in the economic terms that give us a level playing field while drawing those who don't yet understand us to the center stage to engage in civilized debate about the issues that matter most to all Americans—taxes, employment, education, health care, the ability to care for our loved ones in their time of need and live our lives in the manner we so choose.
While we are rightfully angry, we cannot lose sight of what we have accomplished. Since President Obama's swearing into office in January, the tenor of conversation surrounding LGBT equality has changed here in our nation's capitol, and while progress might not be at the speed we had all hoped, progress is being made. People who couldn't bring themselves to stand with us before are now standing by our sides saying: "Separate is not equal!" The United States can only reach its greatest potential when all people have the freedom to live their lives openly and without fear.
As a country, we took a major step in the right direction just last week, when President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Justin Nelson and I had the pleasure of being at the White House with President Obama, along with other community leaders, Judy and Dennis Shepard and the sisters of James Byrd. For Dennis and Judy, as well as everyone else in that room, it was undoubtedly a bittersweet and hard-won victory that came 11 years after their son, Matthew, was beaten and left to die, tied to a fence in rural Wyoming in a crime of entertainment, simply because he was a gay man.
For the first time in the 40 years of the LGBT equal rights movement, a federal bill was passed and signed into law that expanded protections for LGBT people, rather than diminished them. This historic hate crimes legislation also marks the first time ever in the history of the United States that a trans-positive piece of legislation was passed by both houses of Congress and signed by a President.
We are proud to be working with organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and many others to ensure passage of an inclusive ENDA. We are also proud to be working with groups like Small Business Majority, the National Small Business Association and others on ensuring health care reform contains a recipe that is good for America's small businesses. Along with these groups, this past Tuesday we sponsored D.C. Day, which brought small business owners from across the country-many of them here with us tonight-to Washington, D.C. to lobby members of congress and then meet at the White House with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebilius and SBA Administrator Karen Mills about small business concerns and needs in the health reform debate.
However, these debates cannot just happen in Washington, D.C. We must all leave here tonight, with the pledge that we will pursue equality and opportunity for all Americans, whether it's in our work lives or personal lives. We must all pledge to have the courage to be the leaders that this country deserves, and to show all Americans the reality of who we are. Join me in the pledge to stand up and be counted—to lend a voice to those who cannot speak, and to never forget that the relentless quest for equality is ongoing. That quest may take us, like the Pilgrims, away from our hearths, and homes, and the safety of staying in a place with people who make us comfortable, but what we've learned in the last few weeks, both positive and negative, is that the promise of equality for all is worthy of the journey.
In our quest, we must never forget our common purpose, or let those who stand against us keep us from the fundamental human rights of life and liberty, nor can we let them prevent us from pursuing our own personal happiness.
