Silencing Voices Is the First Step Toward Erasing Them
This month is the 20th anniversary of the creation of Diversity Rules Magazine. It is hard to believe that I have been plugging along with this for so long. The publication has experienced many highs and lows, as well as iterations in format and availability. It started as a “freebie” backed by significant advertising. I personally delivered it to queer bars, bathhouses, local businesses, and anyone willing to have it placed in their establishments. At its peak, it was the most widely distributed free gay publication in New York State.
Unfortunately, a bad economy zapped my advertising, and it had grown so much that I could no longer personally deliver it throughout New York and mail it to pick-up points in New York City and elsewhere. I thus made the difficult choice to abandon the free print format and transition it to an online publication, along with a limited print and paid subscription format. That worked for a while, but when personal finances dictated ceasing the print version, it went to wholly digital, its current iteration.
Over the past week, I kept going back and forth about how to highlight the 20-year anniversary. Obviously, it is not a print publication, so there are limited options to offer subscription specials, giveaways, and do other events that a print publication likely would undertake. I then began reflecting on our nation’s current political and social situation. After much thought, I concluded that I would abandon splashy celebratory praise and the perfunctory “Happy 20-year anniversary” cover feature, or some other inane demarcation of the milestone. Instead, I opted to go full bore and usher in a fresh approach to the magazine, while not abandoning its original intent and purpose of being a voice for the queer community and its allies.
This issue is not a celebration, but a warning.
Our nation is at a serious crossroads. The current regime has whittled and chipped away at the American ideals that have served us well for 250 years, with the most ominous being the degradation of the First Amendment of the Constitution, guaranteeing the right of free speech. It has also spearheaded an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion, which have defined our nation for so long. It is that respect for those who are different and the allowance of those differences to exist that separates us from many other authoritarian nations. Free speech is not separate from diversity; it protects it.
As we have painfully witnessed, as free speech is curtailed, and the media outlets kowtow to authoritarian pressure, it is the marginalized voices that are harmed the most at the onset. Sadly, our transgender friends, family, and neighbors are taking the brunt of this new attack on DEI, along with others who are subject to marginalization.
We can see a clear pattern of the current fascist-inspired zealots unfolding. Eradicate diversity and free expression while claiming to celebrate the very differences that have made our nation the beacon of hope, outlaw and remove symbols that represent marginalized communities, prohibit local governments from supporting DEI efforts, and celebrate the differences that have made our nation the beacon of hope and freedom for generations.
It is now more important than ever that we, as a queer community, stand together to protect the interests of all marginalized peoples, both straight and queer, black and white, the poor, the underprivileged, and any other special interests that are now subject to attack by a regime hell-bent on making America a white, Christian nation, disregarding those who do not comply with its vision of what the United States should be and how it treats its most vulnerable.
Since its inception, Diversity Rules Magazine has been a voice for marginalized people. Diversity Rules is very much like the visions of the great men and women before us who effected change in our lives for the better. Diversity Rules aims to facilitate changes in how people perceive the gay community. It gives voice to LGBTQ folks, their friends, and supporters.
While the primary focus of Diversity Rules is on all things gay, it addresses diversity beyond sexual identity, including gender, race relations, and equality for all. Diversity Rules is a broad-based publication appealing to a wide range of interests.
Diversity Rules is a vehicle for coalition building among people who fall outside what is considered normal sexual identities, cultures, and practices.
Given our current toxic political and social environment, the major premise of Diversity Rules remains unchanged. It will forever be a voice of resistance for those who are marginalized and are now being persecuted for simply being who they were born to be. This current regime is an affront to all that is decent, loving, kind, and empathetic. It is an insult to the very core of what America has represented to the world. America’s beacon of hope, acceptance, and tolerance for diverse voices, especially those critical of the government, has clearly dimmed. It must be restored. It will be restored if we are persistent in our resistance.
Free speech is not separate from diversity; it protects it. We must never lose sight of this simple truth. We must diligently strive to ensure that it remains one of the guiding principles of our great nation. We must not allow the perverted, warped, and degrading vision of our nation and how it treats its people by the current regime to stand. It must be toppled, removed, and replaced once again by an administration that respects the precepts and ideals that have served us well since the first shot of the American Revolution. Resist. Never give up. Never lose hope. We can win this battle if we stay loud and strong — because silencing voices is the first step toward erasing them.
Check out the Diversity Rules Magazine Blog for more great articles and features from the May Issue.