Giving thanks for those who are themselves

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The following is from Rabbi Greg Cantor, Temple Etz Chaim, Broward County, FL by way of Paul Barby
(Posted 1-17-01)

Rabbi Greg Cantor: Guest Editorial
"New Year's Dedication to Our Community"

As the year ends and the new year begins, let us give
thanks:

For the drag queens who are so outrageous, they drew
attention to us when society thought it could get away
with ignoring us and discarding us, let us give thanks.

For the dykes on bikes who lead our parades and dare to
challenge conventional ideas about gender, let us be
grateful.

For the members of ACT-UP and GUARD who refuse to take
no for an answer, whose courage brings treatment to
those who need it and whose daring brings us closer
to a cure, let us give thanks.

For the Log Cabin Republicans who demonstrate that there
is more than one way to be gay and political, let us
give thanks.

For the gay Democrats whose voices have made changes in
national platforms and federal policies making all our
lives easier, let us be grateful.

For the gym rats defying the notion that the body is
something we ought to be ashamed of, let us be grateful.

For the bears that prove that beauty does not have to
come in a cookie cutter reflection of ancient Greek
statues, let us be grateful.

For the seniors who paved the way for most of us, who
lived gay and lesbian lives in times many of us can
hardly imagine, who created a history that bolsters all
of us, even those of us who aren't aware of our
pioneers, let us give thanks.

For the gay and lesbian kids who create youth groups and
school support groups so that fewer and fewer people
like us have to suffer in silence, let us give thanks.

For those of us who embrace their faith be it Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, New Age, obliterating the
notion that the so-called Religious Right owns the
copyright on God, let us be thankful.

For the gay men and lesbians who abandoned religion when
they came out, reminding us that sometimes society
creates a hurt so big that the rest of us still have a
lot of healing to do, let us be grateful.

For the gay men and lesbians of color teaching us that
if we want to truly wave the rainbow flag with pride
that we have to include everyone, let us give thanks.

For the gay and lesbian parents who demonstrate that
families come in many different configurations and that
family values are not defined by the Right Wing, let us
be grateful.

For the artists and hairdressers and mechanics and
teachers and clergy and dancers and bartenders;
For the white collars and the blue collars and the pink
collars and the sequined collars and the leather
collars; For the gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered; For the leaders and the followers who
remind us that stereotypes are created by outsiders and
that real people are three dimensional human beings with
hearts that beat, feel and love.

Let us be thankful.

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