tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76290726999945541772024-03-12T21:29:35.052-07:00GAYS AGAINST GAYS IN THE MILITARYpoet CAConrad http://www.blogger.com/profile/13148611902772898013noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629072699994554177.post-57840171194977591392010-02-09T06:02:00.000-08:002010-11-25T05:29:56.576-08:00<strong><em>"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." --Frederick Douglass</em><br /><br />The latest push for "gays in the military" has pushed me to keep trying for signatures on my online petition. My goal is to go to the major LGBT media with the petition to open up a different kind of conversation about the issue, a conversation about ending war.<br /><br />One of the most common arguments against my petition is that I'm not considering the fact that working class and poor LGBT people have a right to join the military service in order to go to college. And I say that if we believe that then we uphold centuries of oppression against poor people in stating that only the wealthy are worthy of educating without being asked to risk their very lives to do so.<br /><br />Not to mention risking the lives of others.<br /><br />Please join me in reading and signing this online petition. And yes, I did in fact write the petition, I say this because some people have been afraid that it's a right wing trick. I send it out THROUGH this blog so that you can easily see and track me, to see who I am, and see that I am in fact NOT, very definitely NOT the right wing undercover.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">To read and sign the petition, please click </span><a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/queers49/petition.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">HERE</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">.</span><br /><br />Thank you for your support,<br />CAConrad<br />Philadelphia poet and queer anti-war activist<br /><br />CONTACT: <a title="mailto:QueersAgainstWar@aol.com" href="mailto:QueersAgainstWar@aol.com">QueersAgainstWar@aol.com</a><br /><br />HOW MANY CLOSETED LGBT SOLDIERS DROPPED THESE BOMBS ON BAGHDAD WHEN THE UNITED STATES INVADED IRAQ ON 3/20/03? ASK YOURSELF OUT LOUD IF THIS IS A CIVIL RIGHT!</strong><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Vy9H2bBCxYk/SxbT4Qkm77I/AAAAAAAAA5c/95OjZyZZOeo/s1600-h/bombs+in+Iraq.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Vy9H2bBCxYk/SxbT4Qkm77I/AAAAAAAAA5c/95OjZyZZOeo/s400/bombs+in+Iraq.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410744965806878642" /></a>poet CAConrad http://www.blogger.com/profile/13148611902772898013noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7629072699994554177.post-74153617748045280472007-09-30T20:16:00.000-07:002008-02-06T20:38:57.698-08:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Vy9H2bBCxYk/RwiFKpbkjII/AAAAAAAAAFw/auDnKQAPSTc/s1600-h/Iraq+meets+American+bombs.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118487394473249922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Vy9H2bBCxYk/RwiFKpbkjII/AAAAAAAAAFw/auDnKQAPSTc/s320/Iraq+meets+American+bombs.jpg" border="0" /></a>The first few years of occupation seemed to be years where everyone was discussing, attending marches, keeping the fever pitch, spreading the descent. But on the morning of the 3rd anniversary of our occupation I remember not moving in bed, just staying still and thinking about the war.<br /><br />And thinking too about thinking about the war. And asking myself quite honestly if in fact I thought about the war every single day. And it seemed an honest answer to say Yes, that I did. But I was worried about the future, was worried about continuing to think, to remember the many lives my tax dollars pay to destroy.<br /><br />It was that morning that I wanted to make something, just for myself, something that would remind me every single day without fail that we are a country at war. A handwritten, or painted sign could easily be gotten used to and lost in the room. So many ideas kept coming. I even considered a tattoo, but felt that that too could get lost in the routine of survival and pain of routine.<br /><br />My hair. When I finally thought about my hair I knew that I had the answer. And ever since the 3rd anniversary of our American invasion of Iraq I have refused to cut my hair. Every morning I have to see it, and feel it, and wash it. It's grown beyond my shoulders, and the longer it gets the more care it needs. And I've had long hair in the past, but I didn't care for that hair like I do this hair. It's a personal metaphor to live with, this War Hair of mine. I've never spent money on conditioners like I do now. Being with this hair keeps me in check, keeps me angry, keeps me mournful, keeps me far FAR FAR from sentimentality and other stupidities, and sets me down in the middle of this breathtaking landscape of American denial.<br /><br />This hair will not be cut until we are out of Iraq. And my friends keep asking what that means exactly. Does it mean when our soldiers are out? Or when the war itself is over? Or? Or peace? Or?<br /><br />It would be nice to not die with it is all I can answer.<br />CAConrad<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Vy9H2bBCxYk/R6qKlC0GfYI/AAAAAAAAAII/1qgFMs_t77c/s1600-h/war+hair.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164092291748887938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Vy9H2bBCxYk/R6qKlC0GfYI/AAAAAAAAAII/1qgFMs_t77c/s400/war+hair.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div align="center">photo of CAConrad's hair by <a href="http://zoestrauss.blogspot.com/">Zoe Strauss</a></div>poet CAConrad http://www.blogger.com/profile/13148611902772898013noreply@blogger.com0