Subject: Op-Ed on Mel White Fast
From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 10:18:08 -0500

Change at Home
by Don Davis
(op-ed piece)
(668 words)
3/12/95

 When Rev. Mel White came to Virginia to keynote the "Breaking the Ice Winter
Pride Festival" in Norfolk, none of us could have anticipated the changes his
presence would ultimately make in our lives. 

 Rev. Mel arrived from Dallas and was handed a Norfolk newspaper soon after
he left the airport. To his surprise, the front page of the newspaper
featured a letter Mel had sent to Pat Robertson before he left Dallas and a
letter of response from Pat Robertson.  Mel, who is now openly gay and is a
former ghostwriter for Robertson, had asked to meet with Robertson to discuss
how Robertson's use of anti-gay rhetoric can lead to anti-gay hate crimes and
even death. Among other things, Robertson refused flatly to meet with Mel.

 That was the beginning.

 Mel was determined that Robertson hear his message. At the pride festival,
Rev. White called on the local community to support his efforts to meet with
Robertson. A core group of local individuals organized quickly. People
affiliated with the Metropolitan Community Church, the Unitarian Universalist
Church, P-FLAG, Virginians for Justice, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force immediately began meeting and planning strategy. The goal was a simple
one: We all wanted Robertson to meet with Mel.

 That finally happened on March 8 in the Virginia Beach City Jail.

 Grassroots organizers met daily between Mel's arrival in Tidewater Virginia,
his arrest for trespassing at Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) on
February 15, his jail stay and fast from February 15 until March 8, and his
March 8 meeting with Robertson. Each day a group of local clergy people and
community leaders returned to the CBN compound to ask Robertson to meet with
Mel. We faxed news releases across the country, organized a vigil against
hate crimes which hundreds attended, and encouraged religious groups to call
on Robertson to acknowledge the consequences of his words and to meet with
Mel. 

 Mel White showed himself to be a man of courage and conviction. He was
determined to meet with Robertson and discuss the impact of Robertson's words
on the gay and lesbian community. He held onto that determination until
Robertson yielded.

 For me though, the real story here was an act of civil disobedience which
mobilized a local community into action. Hundreds of people in the greater
Virginia Beach/Norfolk community stood up and were counted. 

 I continuously spoke with people who told me that this was the first time
they have ever stood up against the hate directed at gay, lesbian, and
bisexual people. A new community has emerged. A community which has connected
gay Christians with heterosexual Christians, older people with younger ones,
career community activists with people who have never before taken a public
stand, men with women, and ministers with atheists. That community is a
vibrant, exciting one which won't go away.

 We've learned a lot. We have found through Mel's example a new community
which respects the greater human condition. We took control of our destiny in
our own back yard.

 Grassroots activism is where it all begins. It is here that we have the
greatest ability to create change and make a better world. 

 Even the "more seasoned" activists, such as myself, have been amazed at the
power we derive from being in unique situations which allow us to look beyond
the more traditional ways we try to create change for the benefit of all
people. We have received quite an education here in Eastern Virginia...may
everyone reading these words experience a similar education. We should take
control of our lives and our destiny. We have learned that we can do that!

_______________________

 Don Davis is a resident of Williamsburg, Virginia, a member of the Board of
Directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and was involved in
Rev. Mel White's act of civil disobedience from its inception.

(For verification-- (804) 887-5407. Don Davis)