the by JAMES LEWIS | DyNAMC Advisory Board Member
As a kid , I was lucky to basically grow up outdoors . From skipping river rocks to homemade archery sets . But my favorite thing was climbing ; trees , rocks , mountains , anything and everything .
Atop the Mountain
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the by JAMES LEWIS | DyNAMC Advisory Board Member
Former Issue Advocacy Director of the Young Democrats of America .
As a kid , I was lucky to basically grow up outdoors . From skipping river rocks to homemade archery sets . But my favorite thing was climbing ; trees , rocks , mountains , anything and everything .
There ’ s something deeply exciting about reaching the top and looking back at the path you ’ ve walked . But to a climber , the best part isn ’ t where you ’ ve come from but the view at the top . You look out from that height and find the next mountain that you ’ re going to climb . One that ’ s taller , steeper and harder to climb .
The same holds true for “ real , professional ” climbers . In 1953 , Sir Edmund Hillary , supported by Tenzing Norgay , became the first Westerner to summit Mount Everest . After reaching the roof of the world , he kept exploring and before his death , he ’ d reach both the North and South Poles . You never stop with one success or one summit . You are also looking forward to the next one .
The same holds true for the great struggle to bend the arc of the universe closer to justice , especially in the LGBT community . Just over a year ago , the Supreme Court handed down the Obergefell v . Hodges decision and made marriage equality a reality throughout the United States . Many thought that this was the final domino to fall in the fight for LGBT and that the Supreme Court had spoken and the need for the LGBT rights movement was over . Yet , despite reaching this summit , many more summits remain , both in the US and around the world .
Dangerous laws protecting discrimination have been introduced in more than half of US states . Significant and severe health disparities remain . LGBT people are more likely to live below the poverty line and violence , especially against the trans community and LGBT people of color , is rising . Forty percent of homeless young people identify as LGBT and 68 percent of these young people were kicked out and rejected by their own families . Globally , LGBT leaders are being rounded up , beaten and assassinated . Just this year , fighters challenging the status quo of hate in Uganda were attacked as they attempted to share in the global PRIDE movement .
Even within the LGBT community , the path forward is not monolithic and internal challenges persist . Bi-erasure , transphobia and a lack of women and people of color at the leadership table are real , but not insurmountable obstacles . While there remains no simple answer to addressing these issues or the many intersectional challenges , from undocumented immigrants to financial access , there are amazing people working to build a bridge , close the gap and empower more voices . And you ’ ll meet many of them in this issue . You ’ ll hear their voices , share their stories and most importantly , help illuminate the path forward . And that ’ s what makes DyNAMC great .
For generations , the community has faced these barriers . Together , we will look inward , outwards and beyond our borders in the pursuit of hope and human rights . As we look toward the future , we also look back to visionary pioneers for perspective and context . No one could provide that better than Mayor Harvey Milk , who said , “ Hope will never be silent ”.