Panel Voices: What is our community’s most overlooked cause?

Phil Nash, Brianna Matthews and George K. Gramer, Jr. weigh in on this week’s question.

Phil Nash

One of the oldest stories in written literature is the Epic of Gilgamesh, a heroic king of ancient times. A central theme of this 4500-year-old Mesopotamian legend is Gilgamesh’s devotion to Enkidu, his beloved, manly companion.

Did you know?

Then there’s Shakespeare: a husband and father who wrote 126 sonnets to “a fair youth” thought to be a handsome young nobleman. Was Shakepeare bisexual? The subject has been argued for 500 years.

Walt Whitman, America’s most celebrated poet, believed our nation’s democracy was animated by an energetic, even erotic “love of comrades.” Modern gay liberation descends directly from ideas embedded in some of Whitman’s sizzling verses (search “Calamus”) written more than 150 years ago.

Did you know? If not, why not? The reason is the deliberate, malicious deletion of LGBT intellectual and cultural heritage from our institutions of learning. “Gay” as we know it is a modern concept. But same-sex love — open, concealed and often suffered for—has been part of cultural and literary history forever. Many wrote about it. Others painted, sculpted, choreographed, dramatized, filmed and composed music inspired by their passions.

A handful of scholars in LGBT studies know about the vast pool of artistic genius that could enrich our lives and help neutralize anti-LGBT stigma. Too few of us know this heritage exists, or how to discover it. Meanwhile, we’re caught up in skirmishes over Heather Has Two Mommies— an icicle on the tip of the homophobic iceberg.

What about a community-based LGBT cultural education program that would bring people together to learn, teach and share our intellectual and cultural heritage? It’s long overdue, and only we can do it.

A former writer and editor at Out Front, Phil Nash is a communications consultant for nonprofit organizations.

Brianna Matthews

At least from my perspective, we have overlooked the plight of the transgender community as a whole.

I know that recently we have seen a few of examples that bring attention to, if you will, our cause: Coy Mathis, the little girl from Fort Carson; Chelsea Manning, the trans soldier in transition in jail; Laverne Cox in Orange is the New Black, a real post-op trans woman playing a trans woman on film; and Chaz Bono, a celebrity transitioning in full view of the world.

These are only a few examples, but the challenges they’re facing show that we still have a long way to go for acceptance even within our own community where we are often times misunderstood, or mistaken for other parts of the “T” spectrum. Oftentimes trans is mistaken for drag or cross-dressing, when in fact many of us are just trying to get by and live who we are, but are labeled buy our “G” and “L” brothers and sisters.

We’re slowly emerging from the shadows where we were hidden for so long. The Affordable Healthcare Act, which I know is a subject of debate that has many sides, is a plus for us in the (transitioning) category because it affords those who are pursuing surgery an opportunity to complete what is so vital to us — to actually be able to afford it. It’s been so out of reach for so many for so long.

We are years behind our LGB siblings in equality and rights, but it’s getting better one day at a time.

Brianna Matthews is a 40-something post-op trans-woman, lesbian, and a telecommunications professional working for a major telecom.

George K. Gramer, Jr.

I believe that there is a tremendous need to extend outreach to LGBT youth. The Human Rights Campaign reports that 50 percent of LGBT youth have problems when coming out to their parents.

A large number — 86 percent — of LGBT youth report being verbally harassed at school due to their sexual orientation. Twenty-two percent report having experienced a physical attack at school, and these attacks often go unreported to school officials.

Three million young Americans are homeless, and a disproportionate number of them, 20 to 40 percent, are LGBT youth. A study showed that 63 percent of homeless youth experienced conflict at home. Additionally, LGBT youth report double the rates of sexual abuse before age 12. One in three transgender youth is turned away from a shelter due to their gender identity/expression. The homeless are at increased risk of victimization, and they experience higher rates of mental health problems and unsafe sexual behavior. Homeless youth also experience significantly higher rates of use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, crack cocaine, intravenous drugs, and stimulants, inhalants, and hallucinogens.

We must advocate for safe foster homes, LGBT training for homeless shelter staffs, anti-bullying campaigns and expanded social services for LGBT youth. Any less is not enough.

Iowa native George Gramer, Jr. is the president of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans.