Diversity Rules Magazine

Jim Koury is a seeker of personal truth, and desires to empower oth- ers to find their own personal truth, whatever it may be. He is also an ac vist who is not afraid to speak his mind, and ruffle some feath- ers, if necessary. His main objec ve is to get people to think and think for themselves. He espouses Aristotle's mantra, "It is the mark of an edu- cated mind to entertain a thought without accep ng it." Jim does not force his views on others but just puts them out there for folks to think about and discard if they wish. Welcome to the June issue of Diversity Rules Mag- azine. It is pride season! I hope you are planning to a end a pride celebra on near you, in whatever form it may be held in these pandemic mes, as they are an important and integral component of the fab- ric of queer life. It is that special me of year when queer folk and allies throughout the na on and the world come together to celebrate their individuality, and the diversity of our humanity. More importantly, it is a me for us to remember those who put their lives on the line back in 1969, on that hot, summer night in NYC when a group of patrons at the Stonewall Inn rebelled against police persecu on. They pushed back when the bar was once again raided by police, like so many mes be- fore, simply because it was a gay bar. We must keep the memory of those who stood their ground that night and said, "NO MORE." Li le did these brave patrons know that their ac on that night would re- verberate around the world, and foster what would become the modern-day gay rights movement. Pride has certainly evolved since that fateful night in 1969. As the decades since Stonewall passed by us, and the anger and rebellion subsided, our move- ment also seemed to lose its rebelliousness, and be- came much more "controlled." While we certainly have had our moments of protest, they have been nowhere near the zeal and fervor that once charac- terized the gay rights movement from a bygone era. As me passed by, and rights were gained, with the most predominant being the right to marry, the advocacy has become diluted and obfuscated by a more academic, and corporate-controlled move- ment. There is a desire by many "leaders" in our movement who seem to not want to offend anyone, and their sensibili es of right and wrong, and what is moral or immoral. Some wish to squelch the indi- viduality of many in our big tent who reside and are more comfortable in the fringes, which tend to raise the eyebrows of those non-queer advocates, and supporters, and of our detractors … the very same folks who rebelled against the police in the summer of 1969 and were deemed heroes of our movement. There seems to be a feeling that we need to brush these folks under the rug and hide them to not of- fend anyone, and place focus on the more academic advocacy of our movement. Pride is about the empowerment of individuality. This empowerment is rela ve and is certainly sub- ject to interpreta on. Some see empowerment in having a stripe in a flag, or a le er in the alphabet stew acronym, or the use of pronouns to describe one's individuality. These debates seem to rage in academic circles and create dissension and angst among those who feel these components of our movement need to take precedence. Those who cannot see the urgency of making these issues the all-encompassing ones that those who advocate for them are doing, o en mes are accused by those who are in the forefront of making such issues the Editor's Message - Con't on page 19 My Two Cents A Message From The Editor James R. Koury, Editor/Publisher Diversity Rules Magazine | May 2021 | 3

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