From: smindeaux@ngltf.org Date: Tue, 21 Jan 97 16:51:15 EST Subject: TASK FORCE REACTION TO INAUGURAL ADDRESS ****************************************************************** PRESS RELEASE National Gay and Lesbian Task Force 2320 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009-2702 http://www.ngltf.org email: ngltf@ngltf.org ****************************************************************** TASK FORCE REACTION TO INAUGURAL ADDRESS: GAYS CHALLENGED TO "MOLD THE EVENTS THAT ARE THE RAW MATERIAL OF HISTORY" Contact: Tracey Conaty tconaty@ngltf.org 202-332-6483 x3303 Pager: 800-757-6476 Washington D.C., January 21, 1997... In his inaugural address, President Clinton challenged the American people to end the plague of prejudice in America: a theme of great significance to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. While the President focused on racism and sexism, the message resonated profoundly for many in the lgbt community. Below is a statement from NGLTF executive director Kerry Lobel on the President's address and the challenge facing the lgbt community. Lobel emphasized the action that must accompany the hopes and vigilance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people over the next four years. Lobel charged the community with making history instead of witnessing it. In her statement, Lobel characterizes the mood of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force as hopeful and its mission as formidable as it gears up for the next four years. History is not the President's to make alone. History is written by all Americans each day, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. Whether through apathy or activism, the lgbt community has a vital role in the countdown to the new century. It is up to each of us, individually and collectively, to decide whether we will merely read the history that will be written or whether we, lgbt people, will mold the events that are the raw material of history. It is a great day when a President, in his inaugural address, condemns "the divide of race [that] has been America's constant curse." It is a great day, when a newly reelected President, proclaims,"prejudice and contempt cloaked in the pretense of religious or political convictions are no different." We look toward the day when the President confronts homophobia as part of the prejudices that plague our nation. For the next four years the job of the lgbt community is not just to hope for equality, but to act decisively for it. The use of sodomy laws to criminalize our love and our lives, the obstacles to our right to parent and create families as we choose, the actions of bigots to keep us from working because we are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender will not end because Bill Clinton made it so. They will end because we made it so. The next four years are our opportunity to change the landscape of the country. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will mobilize and organize so that the next millennium marks a new and profound chapter in our struggle for liberation. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is a progressive organization that has supported grassroots organizing and pioneered in national advocacy since 1973. Since its inception, NGLTF has been at the forefront of virtually every major initiative for lesbian and gay rights. In all its efforts, NGLTF helps to strengthen the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender movement at the state level while connecting these activities to a national vision for change. ### _________________________________________ This message was issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Media Department. If you have any questions regarding this post, please direct them to one of the contacts at the top of this message If you wish to UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, please send an email with "UNSUBSCRIBE PRESSLIST" in the subject and body of your email message to .