A bit of the past is going to be lost, a stand two good men made once, a stand for inclusion that should not be lost.
My article will be re-posted on KABA, but the whole page will not be the same - and I think that what was there is important to us.
Here:
Saturday, April 19, 2003
Featured Item
Safety in Being Different
by Trisha
I know pain, fear, loneliness, homelessness; I've been raped, and
seen the darkness that consumes people when they voice epithets
like "Retard!"
How can this be? I'm just a quiet, middle-aged citizen happily living in
a small home high in the Colorado mountains with my partner of the
last 10 years and a couple of cats and a dickatiel (who's sitting on my
shoulder as I type this). I see more elk and mule deer during the day
than cars or people.
I survived the outside world long enough to make it here, to safety
and the peace of solitude, and found the protection of my fierce
Susan (a Black Belt in TaeKwonDo, an EMT, with a day job in the
corporate world).
It wasn't always so serene. You see, I'm permanently disabled from
an industrial accident that left me with a speech impairment and
some motor skills deficits, and I'm a (rather recently) post-operative
transsexual (I was born intersexed, and some 40 years ago, doctors
tried to make me a boy.... and failed).
Still with me? The darkest sides of the outside world have tried to
shame me, destroy me, and "put me in my place." Being TS and a
lesbian has meant that I had no champion when I would be found
beaten to a pulp, or cornered by raging, clean-cut white men and
women because I had trouble walking and talking.
I had all but given up hope when Susan and I met. She is ferociously
protective, and she helped me to believe that I had a value in life, to
the degree that I now own, shoot (with my local IDPA club), and am
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licensed to carry a pistol.
I spend a lot of time working with other women who've survived rape,
or feel threatened, to reclaim that sense of self-worth in any degree
that I am welcomed or sought out - because no one before Susan
ever told me that I had a natural right to live, and contribute to life.
Mid November of last year, while I was filling up my old 4WD at the
local store, I was confronted my a younger white man who was 6'1"
and easily 200lbs, shaved head, wearing camo pants and a muscle
tee. His shiny newer 4WD had decals of the Flag, a branch of the
military, and a national pro-2A organization along with a bumper
sticker that said "America: Love it or leave it!"
I was dressed in clean, ironed jeans, a long-sleeve tee, and a denim
jacket. I wore no cosmetics, my long hair was just brushed and in a
pony tail, and my only jewelry was a moonstone pendant and two
rings that Susan had given me.
(I apologize, but in going into such detail, I hope to illustrate that I
was hardly somehow appearing "flamboyant," or some such)
He did several double-takes and then stared for a moment, getting
red in the face. He walked the 20ft towards me, with his right arm
dicked into a punch, and, some 6-8ft away, screamed "faggots and
retards like you don't belong up here in God's country!!!" and kept
approaching.
I had no doubt but that in the next moment I was going to be
violently assaulted. I knew that I couldn't possibly outrun him, and I
was a good 75ft from the safety (?) of the inside of the gas station.
I did the unexpected: I smiled joyously at him, reached inside my
coat and unsnapped the Galco SS2 shoulder rig, got a firm grip on my
Glock 21 (loaded with Federal 230gr Hydra-Shoks), and turned to
face him!
He froze - stock still, and turned ashen gray. I smiled sweetly, and
said "I don't mind, but I think you should go home, Honey."
Shaking visibly, he walked back to his shiny 4WD and drove off,
heading out of the mountains.
I believe my life has worth now, and I'll never be afraid of knowing
that I have no other option but to get beaten or raped again, because
I'll never be unarmed again.
Maybe you personally aren't comfortable with Lesbians, Gays, or
Transsexuals; or even people who might have trouble walking,
talking; or people who somehow just seem too different. In diversity,
we have strength. I am a 1st generation American, and my family is
from Northern Finland.
Otherwise, the Divide-and-Conquer mentality of the liberal Socialists
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will win the field.
If you have friends who identify with the LBGT community, ask to
speak to their support groups on gun rights, and invite them to learn
to shoot.
We don't need "Hate Crimes" laws.
We need a Vermont-Style National Right-To-Carry, Shall-Issue law.
KeepAndBearArms.com Note:
We take the phrase, "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all" very seriously here. After reading the above
article, one of our Advisors, Mr. David Codrea of GunTruths.com
shared his organization's inclusion statement with us. Rather than
rewrite it, we simply echo the same sentiment, as follows:
Inclusion Statement:
GunTruths.com Is Not Your Enemy
GunTruths supports the right of all peaceable people to
keep and bear arms. Your age, race, sex, religion, political
party, sexual orientation, or national origin are of no
concern to us. Anyone who requires you to disarm is not
your friend, and not our friend. Only when all peaceable
citizens can freely exercise their inalienable right to self
defense, and their right to keep and bear arms, will we
attain the ultimate safeguard for our mutual protection, as
individuals, as members of a community, and as citizens
of the Republic.
Well said, GunTruths.com friends. We concur, 100%. The right to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness extends to all human beings, and
all who support the right to keep and bear arms are welcome here,
period.
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