Every year, a promise runs through my mind: This year will be the year that I’ll finally slow down. Well, that has never happened and this summer was by far the busiest. But this is no complaint. The work that is being done after 42 years of activism is a dream come true. Actually it’s more than that. Our GLF (Gay Liberation Front) group, which jumpstarted the modern gay-rights movement for equality, has an e-mail group, and most of us are amazed how far we’ve come from that historic 1969.
With success of our struggle comes opportunity to make our community stronger. A strong community protects, secures and answers the needs of its members most at risk.
When I’m stopped on the street or at an event, people ask, “How are you doing?” My answer these days is, “Incredibly well.” This is by far one of the happiest times in recent memory. The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell,” the fight for marriage equality that we are winning, a president who really cares about our community and the beginning of awareness of the special issues of LGBT youth and elders are just a few of the successes. My life since 18 has been devoted to creating community, and watching the incredible growth is a dream come true.
Add to that the personal projects currently on the drawing board. When it comes to new projects, the best way to look at them from my viewpoint is that they are a learning curve. And while you might not succeed at first, if you take the time to learn, you will win. It was like that with the gay nondiscrimination and domestic-partners legislation, both of which bring me pride.
Currently, I’m working on the LGBT-friendly senior living facility, which seems to be a 24/7 project at times. I’ll have more information on that hopefully by the end of October. Also, Comcast invited me to sit on its Diversity Council, a national group of 40 mandated by the FCC when Comcast merged with NBC/Universal. Our work thus far has been to increase the LGBT presence on NBC and NBC cable network shows. You’ll begin to see that in this coming season, but in the pipeline are some exciting and groundbreaking shows. And we’re working to assure that LGBT businesses get the opportunity to work with Comcast procurement. And, of course, running PGN and writing this column each week. So much has happened this year, but every once in a while something special and unexpected just pops up: Twice in the last few weeks something has brought me chills.
Another project that took time this year was bringing the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association national convention to Philly. I was part of a lunch plenary panel session on what was next in gay media. One of my talking points was, no matter what form of media you were using, the rules of journalism still need to be applied. The following day, a man came up to me to thank me for driving home the rules and traditions of journalism and handed me his card. When I looked at it later, his name was Louis Wiley, the executive news director of PBS’s “Frontline” — arguably the best in broadcast journalism there is. Not since Walter Cronkite’s compliment about PGN have I felt so honored.
The second instance happened last weekend when I was visiting Jason in Washington, D.C., and we went to the Newseum. In one of the galleries there was a collection of current hot-spot news issues around the world. To my surprise, they had a picture of Mohammed al-Nabbous, and it brought me to tears. Mo as we called him was a brilliant man who was the only person among the Libyan “rebels” to get images of the revolution out to the west, and he was killed videotaping Gaddafi’s troops in battle. If you’re a reader of this column, you might recall that another issue I became involved with this year was the fight for Libyan freedom. Yes, this 60-year-old Jewish gay man helped in a revolution.
Not to end on a sad note, the following day we visited an obscure site in the Capital for research that will be part of PGN’s Gay History Project in October. (Yet another project!) This year, while it has been the most ambitious and time-consuming, also has been a delight. We have kept the project to ourselves thus far, but can promise you that it will change the way we look at American history. How’s that for a tease?
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. He can be reached at [email protected].