Pride Through Peace

by Michael Bayly, Queers United for Radical Action

Last October, as the Bush Administration launched its so-called "War on Terrorism," gay conservative writer and New Republic editor Andrew Sullivan wrote an article entitled "Our War Too: Gay Heroes and Gay Necessities." The premise of Sullivan's article is that gay America can and should take a "proud and central part" in the war on terrorism. It is a sentiment that may appeal to some members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) community, but it is one built upon a flawed presupposition--one made famous by George W. Bush in the weeks after September 11, 2001, and uncritically promulgated by the mainstream corporate media ever since.

Sullivan's article presupposes that those responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks on America "hate us because of our freedom." Truth is, however, there are far more liberalized and democratic nations in the world than the United States. Yet we don't see terrorist attacks on, say, Denmark or Sweden.

So what did happen on September 11, 2001? What we saw were desperate extremists lashing out at two of the most potent symbols of American greed and violence: the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Yes, America is hated--not because of our perceived freedoms, but because aspects of American foreign policy (a policy indistinguishable from our economic policy) do hateful and destructive things to people all around the world. Rev. Martin Luther King acknowledged this fact in 1968 when, shortly before his assassination, he noted that "the greatest purveyor of violence on the world stage is the U.S. government."

Sullivan appears oblivious to such realities. He would rather advance the ludicrous idea that gay Americans are in fact the terrorists' "first targets for destruction." One wonders, then, why the World Trade Center was targeted and not any of a number of GLBT Pride events throughout the country.

Sullivan and the vast majority of corporate media pundits do a great disservice to the American public by failing to highlight the domination and violence that undergirds and shapes U.S. economic/foreign policy. Such policy in no way justifies the tragic events of September 11, but it does help explain why some may feel compelled to take such extreme and destructive measures.

If Sullivan were truly serious about working to bring about a "brighter" and more "integrated" tomorrow then he should start by denouncing this fraudulent war currently being waged in our name. Thousands of innocent Afghanis are dead, and still the supposed leaders of the terrorist network that planned the September 11 attacks have not been brought to justice. Meanwhile, military contractors in the U.S.--always closely tied to whichever of the two main political parties is in power--are reaping huge profits. They are making a killing in more ways than one.

It is true that the Taliban has been toppled, but how did such an oppressive regime achieve power in the first place? It was the U.S. that trained and encouraged Islamic extremists--Osama bin Laden among them--to do battle against the Soviets in the 1980s. Yet, after the defeat of the Red Army, the U.S. abandoned the wasteland that Afghanistan had become. These same Islamic extremists--in the form of the Taliban--subsequently filled the political vacuum created.

The American public needs to be similarly aware that it was a CIA-backed coup that brought Iraq's corrupt Saddam Hussein into power. At that time and for years after, he was considered one of the "good guys"--even as he murdered his own people. He only became publicly denounced by the U.S. as the devil incarnate when he invaded Kuwait and threatened our (or more precisely, the Bush family's) oil interests.

In these cases and many others around the globe, the willingness of the U.S. to maintain economic dominance through oppression and violence has led to the deaths of untold millions. This too is a type of war--a war on the poor, a war on the planet. It is a war that Sullivan does not need to implore GLBT involvement in, as we're already part of it.

We benefit, after all, from the exploitation of Third World workers and the environment through cheap sweatshop-produced products and cheap oil. Our military interventions and support of oppressive regimes protect and expand our corporate interests and thus our bloated lifestyle--a lifestyle that was once described to the rest of the world by the senior George Bush as "not negotiable."

How can we as citizens of a supposedly democratic nation--and especially as GLBT citizens--tolerate such arrogance, oppression, and violence? Our experience of such destructive realities in our own lives and within the history of the GLBT community should ensure our presence at the forefront of the growing global movement demanding peace through justice.

The world is a very complex, ambiguous place--a fact that escapes the black and white perspective of Andrew Sullivan. His is a perspective best left to the fantasy world of a George Lucas film--one where there are only "good guys" and "bad guys." We need the courage to recognize and confront the evil within our own hearts and within the corridors of power in Washington; we need the courage to understand our own role--individually and collectively--in a grossly unfair and ultimately suicidal global economy.

In short, if we wish to ensure that events like September 11 do not happen again, then we need to stop this insane "War on Terrorism" and address instead the root cause of terrorism: economic and social inequality. Only when we boldly acknowledge and address this inequality will we see the light of that brighter world we all long for: a world of compassion, justice, and peace. Let us not align ourselves with the clouds of war that obstruct the dawning of such a tomorrow.

GLBT Peace and Justice Resource

Queers United for Radical Action (QURA) is a network of GLBT activists dedicated to informing the wider GLBT community about the threats to democracy, human life, and the environment posed by corporate globalization, militarism, and environmental degradation. QURA will have a booth this year at the annual Twin Cities GLBT Pride Festival at Loring Park, Minneapolis. An anti-war message will be a major focus of QURA's presence at Pride. FFI: www.circlevision.org/qura.html or qura@circlevision.org or 612-724-2891.