That Bitchass Dan Abrams

Sometimes, other people say it better than I do, so thanks for making my job easier today…. I love the poem too…

—– Original Message —–
From: “ernest duque”
To:
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 3:47 PM
Subject: that bitchass Dan Abrams

Hey girl,

You are amazing and truly inspiring to me. I know you hear it a lot from us teenaged gays, but you really are my idol and your words have been a source of strength and courage for me. I saw you at ‘gay day’ at Great America in San Jose. Fucking amazing. And I saw you when you came to USC this past summer. Oh I want to apologize for that too, on behalf of these motherfuckas up in here who were rude, not cute.

Anyway, the reason I’m writing is on one hand to tell you what an important and special person you are to me (especially when I was toiling like a bitch at an allboys Catholic school. It was most def NOT queer as folk material, that shit was not even fit for lifetime). Anyway, I saw you with Dan Abrams and when he pulled that “why are you making it political” bullshit, I almost had a fuckin aneurysm I was so angry!!! Sometimes its so stunning how deep this rightwing, puritanical, censoring bullshit runs. We got Schwarzenegger not even having to appear in court for sexual assault, our own governor. And you’re not supposed to “get political” and not recognize the connection between the FCC, Clear Channel and Bush. Weren’t they running ads FOR Bush last election season? It’s ridiculous.

This witch-burning hunt for “indecency” is just the right wing seeing an opportunity to deprive us further of our civil liberties and bleeding it dry. Didn’t they get enough after 9/11 with the Patriot Act bullshit? It all becomes so frustrating and infuriating that sometimes I think I’m losing hope for any sort of change in my lifetime. But that’s not why we fight this fight. Its not why we struggle for our civil liberties, for equality, for a conquering of sexism, homophobia and racism. It’s not for ourselves, it’s for everyone else and all that will follow.

I want to share this with you. I wrote it while I was visiting El Salvador a few summers ago, seeing the injustice that Reagan and Bush inflicted upon those innocent people all for the sake of imperialism. I’ll leave you with this. I just wanted to express my love and my support for you and my undying thanks for being you. Keep fighting the good fight.

visions
of greatness
images
haunting the mind
whispers
of a future
that cannot be seen
of a cool breeze
that has yet to brush our skin

we reached
for the unreachable
we ran
until our body failed
we prayed
to a God who may not be listening

but we have
these dreams
that push us along the way
these hopes
that fill us with power
this faith
that we will rise above
and taste freedom

toiling for justice
bleeding for hope
dying for love
what Fools we may be
breathing truth
in a sea of lies
and so we will drown

yet
love lies before us
all we can do
is take the step forward
justice rests on the horizon
all we can do
is squint at its beauty
stumble forward
and know
someday
they’ll feel the warmth upon their skin
and smile in thanks
to the souls
who beat the path
that lead
to
freedom

with love, Ernie Duque

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