An ancient Chinese proverb that said, "Be not afraid of going slowly,
but be afraid only of standing still." Today we all are being called
to stand up and move forward and prepare the way for our community. I
know that progress may seem slow and sometimes unachievable, but, my
life is a testament that the destination of history is determined by our
actions. No matter who you are or where you have been, you can make a
difference.Today I call the Transgender community into action, and demand we all enlist in the battle of preparing the way! Ladies and gentlemen, you may be asking the question. "What am I preparing the way for?" My answer is simply, your committed work towards preparing the way for transgender political, economic, social, and religious equality.
The work that has been accomplished has been based on the foundation of our political rights. We all have access to freedom of speech, religion, petition and assembly which are made possible by our first amendment rights of the constitution. You are projecting political power by being present here today. We must come out of our individual selves and come together and advance our community. The time is now and we have a president in the White House that is an ally of all people. No matter what gender you are, we are the Rosa Parks of our generation. We refused to sit at the back of the bus! We are preparing the way for future generations to have access to political and social equality. Our access to social and political equality isn't the end goal, it's just the beginning.
We must obtain access to economic opportunities that makes our community more prosperous and a powerful political force. We must prepare the way for the future, by fighting for equal job and business opportunities. We know that this journey has been long, but necessary in our fight for equality! We must be ready to pursue education and side with sacrifice in our journey to victory. We must focus on self empowerment and less on self indulgence! Our time to prepare the way for the future of our community is here. In our struggle for equal recognition in our society we must proclaim and demonstrate that we are human beings that were created by God with gifts, talents and purpose. We must live our lives with dignity, respect and self control. We must exemplify what Dr. King proclaimed in his 1963 March on Washington. "Let us be judged by the content of our character." It makes no difference if you are male, female, straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender; we beseech society to judge us not based on our external, but judge us on our internal, which is our eternal! As a people we demand our seat at the table. What table? The table and feast of God. We are all God's children. I stopped by to tell you that it makes no difference what your faith is, I believe there is room at the table of God for you!
As I close, we must remember that our action doesn't only impact us, but future generations of people as well. So boldly like the the great biblical character John the Baptist we boldly proclaim, prepare ye the way for the Lord. For in God there is salvation! We know there has always been a great struggle between justice and injustice, freedom and oppression and we know that God is not idol between them! So the time to stand still has passed and the time to prepare the way is here! God bless you and may He bless our efforts to bring about justice and equality for all people!
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