Butch Femme Planet - View Single Post - Building a Cohesive & Politically EFFECTIVE B-F LGBTIQ Alliance

AtLast · 11-07-2010, 05:40 PM

After the US mid-term election results, our working together as a cohesive community is critical for so many legislative and public educational goals we share simply as members of this community. Individual rights and liberties of each and every one of us are at stake from same-sex marriage, adoption, transgender civil liberties to banishing prevalent myths about our varied forms of sexuality. The list is long with things that matter to all of us.

Unfortunately, we do battle among ourselves often which only leads to being defeated as a viable and important sub-community within the LGBTIQ umbrella (feel free to add a letter!). The “them and us” thinking we sometimes get caught up in just gets in the way of actually making a difference politically.

As the US 2012 general election cycle nears (and it will be upon us far faster than we might think!), I would like to put energy into that “all politics are local” dictum and explore with our entire membership how we can unite here on the Planet and make this unification flow into our real-time lives. Putting aside individual differences and being part of a common alliance just has to be something we can do!

The definitions of cohesion, and networking have been floating through my mind in trying to figure out ways in which this kind of political success can be achieved.

Cohesion- joining or working together: the state or condition of joining or working together to form a united whole, or the tendency to do this.

Networking- practice of gathering of contacts: the process or practice of building up or maintaining informal relationships, especially with people whose friendship could bring advantages such as job or business opportunities.

Please post thoughts about how you put this kind of coalition building together and how you have experienced success in whatever political and social movement contexts you have been part of. I am an older member, so, I need to become more knowledgeable about what younger members do to build solid and positive and effective political alliances. I can always learn from my contemporaries as well. Finding out about the differing areas we live in and how geographical locations influence our ability to unite would be useful to hear about.

I hope the thread can be a positive catalyst to explore (and then be applied in real-time) ways to effectively bridge the multi-faceted nature of our community, no matter what side of issues one takes and get ready for some of the election battles in 2012.

I hope we can stay away from personal liberal/progressive/conservative, et. Al. ideology and just focus on the mechanics of coalition building to effectively promote (and win battles) issues that affect all of us as B-F Queers of every combination and identity!

11-07-2010, 05:40 PM	#1
AtLast Infamous Member How Do You Identify?: Woman Preferred Pronoun?: HER - SHE Relationship Status: Relating Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: CA & AZ I'm a Snowbird Posts: 5,408 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 11,826 Thanked 10,830 Times in 3,200 Posts Rep Power: 21474856	Building a Cohesive & Politically EFFECTIVE B-F LGBTIQ Alliance After the US mid-term election results, our working together as a cohesive community is critical for so many legislative and public educational goals we share simply as members of this community. Individual rights and liberties of each and every one of us are at stake from same-sex marriage, adoption, transgender civil liberties to banishing prevalent myths about our varied forms of sexuality. The list is long with things that matter to all of us. Unfortunately, we do battle among ourselves often which only leads to being defeated as a viable and important sub-community within the LGBTIQ umbrella (feel free to add a letter!). The “them and us” thinking we sometimes get caught up in just gets in the way of actually making a difference politically. As the US 2012 general election cycle nears (and it will be upon us far faster than we might think!), I would like to put energy into that “all politics are local” dictum and explore with our entire membership how we can unite here on the Planet and make this unification flow into our real-time lives. Putting aside individual differences and being part of a common alliance just has to be something we can do! The definitions of cohesion, and networking have been floating through my mind in trying to figure out ways in which this kind of political success can be achieved. Cohesion- joining or working together: the state or condition of joining or working together to form a united whole, or the tendency to do this. Networking- practice of gathering of contacts: the process or practice of building up or maintaining informal relationships, especially with people whose friendship could bring advantages such as job or business opportunities. Please post thoughts about how you put this kind of coalition building together and how you have experienced success in whatever political and social movement contexts you have been part of. I am an older member, so, I need to become more knowledgeable about what younger members do to build solid and positive and effective political alliances. I can always learn from my contemporaries as well. Finding out about the differing areas we live in and how geographical locations influence our ability to unite would be useful to hear about. I hope the thread can be a positive catalyst to explore (and then be applied in real-time) ways to effectively bridge the multi-faceted nature of our community, no matter what side of issues one takes and get ready for some of the election battles in 2012. I hope we can stay away from personal liberal/progressive/conservative, et. Al. ideology and just focus on the mechanics of coalition building to effectively promote (and win battles) issues that affect all of us as B-F Queers of every combination and identity!