Today marks a historic moment in the LGBT movement; the Defense of Marriage Act has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and Prop 8 has been dismissed on standing. These two rulings are important marks of progress in the marriage equality movement, but the LGBT community continues to face a broad range of issues that still prevent LGBT people from obtaining full equality and fairness including the rights of LGBT immigrants, people of color, and women.
The new report At the Crossroads: The Future of the LGBT Movement, released by the Building Movement Project, explores the future of the LGBT movement as progress continues in the fight for marriage equality. Marriage equality is seen as a single-issue fix, and with that comes the risk of sidelining other important issues that the LGBT community might face. At the Crossroads looks at core elements of movement building, and how the LGBT movement can capitalize on the current momentum to go beyond marriage equality, and tackle the challenge of balancing systemic reforms through public policy, and a broad social change.
The report point to four key areas of focus on how the movement can move forward: by defining the new vision to include equity and justice for all, extending and diversifying base building, strengthening the infrastructure and deepening alliances.
You can read the report here and a very thoughtful blog post by Sean Thomas-Breitfeld on the importance of the movement going beyond marriage equality to fully achieve equality and inclusion.
Tags: LGBTQ, social justice