Wednesday, June 17, 2015

#ITLQBM – MARRIAGE EQUALITY - WE WON!

Intersectionality Through the Lens of a Queer Black Man

Jim Obergefell and I













WE JUST WON THE RIGHT TO MARRY IN ALL FIFTY STATES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!


As long as I have been involved in the SGL-BT/LGBT community (15 years by my count) I have wanted the right to marry if I so choose. As the 2000s and 2010s have progressed we have made strides in taking down same sex marriage bans in about 37 states due to the outcome of  Windsor v United States. One may say that as a Black man this does not benefit me, YES IT DOES, as I sit in Texas where a ban is still in effect, I have to enlighten you. The ban in Texas specifically has language that prohibits the recognition of same sex relationships period, not just marriage. In other words, in the eyes of the law we do not exist. Then came Deleon v Perry which saw our ban struck down and stayed pending a ruling from the Supreme Court.case Obergefell v Hodges. Over time, I have done little things, sometimes bigger things to be part of the process to gain the right for recognition and marriage, here is a little piece of how I have been part of the fight:

Ashton P. Woods shared Jim Obergefell's photo.
16 hrs ·
Beautiful!
Jim Obergefell
How indescribably awesome - meeting Edie Windsor!
Like · Comment · 

Ashton P. Woods added 3 new photos.
June 5 at 6:28pm · Houston, TX · Edited ·
Got to hang with Marc Solomon who is instrumental in the fight for freedom to marry!
Like · Comment · 
 · 13

Ashton P. Woods added 10 new photos.
April 28 · Washington, DC ·

Live from the Supreme Court.... Your rights, Our rights....
 — feeling fabulous.
Like · Comment · 
 · 9182


Ashton P. Woods
April 27 · Washington, DC ·
Two ends of the spectrum that I am an activist for are converging, I am here for ‪#‎MarriageEquality‬ and not many miles away ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬, an ongoing situation in this country I hold near to my heart and that I internalize much too often, I am tired of PEOPLE who look like me being hurt and murdered and its like the intersection where I stand shows how I as a Gay BLACK man is being attacked from ALL sides...Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Socioeconomic discrimination and the list goes on! DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HOW WOMEN ARE IGNORED IN THIS, AND HOW TRANS LIVES SHOULD MATTER TOO! ‪#‎OVERWHELMED‬‪#‎THIS2SHALLPASS‬
Like · Comment · 
 · 141


Ashton P. Woods
April 27 · Washington, DC ·
Living a little....‪#‎LiveFromDC‬
Like · Comment · 
 · 671



Ashton P. Woods added 3 new photos.
April 27 · Washington, DC ·
Great kick off for the night ‪#‎MarriageEquality‬ just left HRC and of course Jim Obergefell was good to see...
Like · Comment · 
 · 2821


Ashton P. Woods shared NowThis's video.
April 27 ·
I HAVE JUST LANDED IN DC WITH A GOOD MIND TO TAKE THE TRAIN TO BALTIMORE...

11,774,576 Views
NowThis uploaded a new video.
Cops in Baltimore caught throwing rocks back at protesters before the crowd fights back‪#‎FreddieGray‬
Like · Comment · 


Ashton P. Woods
April 26 · Houston, TX ·
Someone I met in Dallas yesterday said this: " You do a lot, do you ever slow down, have down time?" and it was a sincere question from someone who know who I was before I even introduced myself. I answered "Yes, I do have down time, but we pick our battles and when to fight them..." If we were to just go off of facebook posts Climate Change education has been something that i have done over the years. These are my causes that have always been, well my causes: INTERSECTIONALITY
Fair treatment of Communities of Color
Womens rights
Black LGBT rights
HIV/AIDS
Police brutality
Climate Change
Rape
Human trafficking
LGBT rights at large
PAY ATTENTION THESE ISSUES ARE ALL CONNECTED! I am not doing too much, it just seems that way.
Like · Comment · 
 · 1631


Ashton P. Woods added 5 new photos.
April 13 · Austin, TX · Edited ·
After a busy lobby day with ‪#‎TXLege‬ advocating for ‪#‎LGBTequality‬ sitting in Nubian Queen Lola's resturant.
Like · Comment · 


Ashton P. Woods added 3 new photos.
April 13 · Austin, TX ·
Went to the office of Molly White, and made sure she listened to us after it was made known earlier in the day that her staff and herself would not engage or meet anyone from the LGBT community.
Like · Comment · 


Chuck Smith
April 13 · Edited ·

On the steps of the Capitol for Freedom Advocacy Day. Thanks to Ryan C. Wilson and Human Rights Campaign for the photo!
 — with Lynn Currie and 7 others at Texas State Capitol.
Unlike · Comment · 



Ashton P. Woods
April 13 ·
Me and the Executive Director of Equality Texas.....Chuck Smith
Like · Comment · 


Ashton P. Woods
April 10 · Houston, TX ·
Want real marriage equality? Just met the person who the Supreme Court case for marriage equality is named after Jim Obergefell! So happy for people like him, like us who FIGHT for our rights!
Like · Comment · 

The next set of pictures are from February 13 of this year when we went to ask for marriage liscenses at the Harris County Court House in downtown Houston which was followed by a march to Houston City Hall ended with a rally. #MarriageEqualityMarch









I will stop here, because I have a ton more where that comes from. I do have a question for the readers of this post, HOW MANY PEOPLE OF COLOR DO YOU SEE IN THE ENTIRE SET OF PHOTOS? We gotta do better, there is always room for more people to fight for the rights of all!





Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)