In the early days of AIDS activism, one of our battle cries was SILENCE = DEATH. We wanted people to talk about AIDS, to share information about safer sex, to get tested, to let partners know their status, to show up to marches and protests and vigils as we worked for recognition, compassion, and research funding. Information was power. Our stories put a face on the illness. Our sharing gave us strength, courage, comfort, and sometimes, even hope. Speaking up was life-giving while silence = death.
That remains true today. Whether we are talking about AIDS, unjust wars (which are most wars), lgbtq rights, voting rights, bodily autonomy, the need for diversity, equity and inclusion, government overreach, police accountability, academic freedom, health care, or climate science…information is still power and silence still leads to unjust and life harming situations. It’s time to say that oppression is not a matter of religious freedom.
Oppression is wrong and religion isn’t a shield to protect injustice. The religious right uses personal morality to marginalize others. A justice approach rather than a personal morality approach will allow people to make their personal moral choices without forcing those moral values on people who have equally legitimate but quite different values. Let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about justice. Let’s talk about real freedom. Let’s explore what’s right rather than just what is right wing. The time for comfortable silence is over. It is time to speak up, which is what the Queer God Squad will do right now.
