As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us may be asked to answer the ubiquitous “What are you thankful for?” question before we dive into our turkey dinners. While the “family, friends and good health” answer is always a true, yet traditional, staple, a glance at this week’s headlines can truly drive home the meaning of the holiday.
Among the stories on PGN’s front page this week are one about a man facing a job loss, a rape and another about a murder. Throughout the paper, there are other stories about a woman being denied health benefits for her wife, a gay man who was tried for an assault and a story about a 33-year-old man’s death. Not necessarily the kind of news to get you into the holiday spirit.
At PGN, we would love it if each week’s issue carried stories about victories within our community and good fortune falling upon LGBT people; however, as is the case in any community, and any newsroom, bad news happens and we have a duty to report it. And, while we are obligated to remain objective about the news we cover, that doesn’t mean we can’t be affected by, and learn from, it.
As the holiday season ramps up, we’ll all likely be thrown into stress-overdrive with shopping lists, money issues, cooking preparations for family get-togethers and worries over the drama among family and friends that always rears its head this time of year. Concerns about what we don’t have makes it easy to overlook what we do have.
But looking at some of this week’s headlines is a fresh reminder that gift-buying, food shopping and family fights aren’t all that important. Just within the first page of this newspaper, a mother has lost her son, a young woman spending her first week in Philadelphia is faced with recovering from a brutal assault and a man is grappling with losing his livelihood because of his acceptance for his gay children. Stories like those may make many of our own seemingly difficult struggles seem insignificant in comparison.
And that’s an idea that can be applied on a much larger scale. While many in the LGBT community may have to confront awkward or uncomfortable situations with families this holiday because of our sexual orientation or gender identity, there are other LGBT people in the world who face murder and violence for theirs. While our state doesn’t yet sanction marriage equality, there are many LGBT people, including in Pennsylvania, who are facing workplace harassment and loss of income for their identity. While we want the ability to walk down the street hand-in-hand with our partners without having to confront stares, people in other parts of the world jailed for being LGBT would simply revel in the ability to walk down the street.
That certainly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t push back against intolerant families, restrictive state laws or homophobia in the public and in policies. But putting things into perspective can help take us out of our small corner of the world and see what the Thanksgiving holiday should truly represent.