The Eyes of Mara

[Gemini Cricket]

Last night was pretty amazing. Ralphie and I went to see a talk given by Mara Keisling at Harvard University. She was annouced as person of the year by Harvard’s Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance last night.

Mara Keisling is the Executive Director of the National Center of Transgender Equality in DC.
This is from their site:

The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people.

By empowering transgender people and our allies to educate and influence policymakers and others, NCTE facilitates a strong and clear voice for transgender equality in our nation's capital and around the country.

I have seen a ton of good and bad speakers, but what struck me about Ms. Keisling's speech was that she had a great presence. I'm not sure how to explain it. Some people have it, some people don't. Some people walk into a room before a speech and they have this aura about them. Anyway, whatever she had, it was something that I hope to get. She introduced herself personally to everyone in the crowd. And there were about 50 or so people in the room. I thought that was pretty cool.

Her speech regarding the state of GLBT rights in our country was surprisingly optimistic. I tend to be a glass half empty kind of guy and was empowered by her positive outlook on how our civil rights in this country was improving, albeit too slow for many people's tastes.

One huge aspect of her speech (that I hadn't thought of but completely agreed with) was that the GLBT community needs to embrace the grey areas of patriotism and faith in our country. She said that often outspoken leaders of gay activism do not acknowledge the patriotic and/or church going members of their own community. I agree. She also said that the people who are fighting for GLBT rights and marriage equality should also speak out against racism. Saying that it's okay to joke about black people means that it's also okay to joke about a tranny. I totally agree.

Afterwards, we got to go to the Harvard Faculty Club for dessert and coffee/tea. It's a really cool club in a fancy old mansion on campus. A bit to highbrow for my tastes, but it was neat to see the overstuffed chairs and professors walking around.

During that time, I got to speak to Ms. Keisling personally. I spoke to her of my fading optimism with gay rights efforts in this country and she countered it by saying that everyone involved in our fight is important. The biggest challenge is that all of the anti-gay groups have five times as much money as an organization like HRC does. But she also said that money doesn't always equal victories. She told me to keep up the letter writing and calls to my polticians but not to forget about doing the things that keeps my creative heart strong.

It was the right interaction at the right time for me.

Best of all, Keisling has a way of giving you this eye contact that tells you a few things:

1. She's listening.
2. She's not full of sh!t.
3. She doesn't take sh!t.
4. She has a big heart.

I think that's pretty amazing.

She's definitely one of my heroes right now.

The funniest part about last night was that Ralphie and I got our picture taken for the Harvard Crimson newspaper standing with Ms. Keisling.

It's here. The backs of our heads are featured. I was thinking, 'God, I have a huuuge head!'