The earth moved, darling.

What Lot's Wife Would Have Said (If She Wasn't A Pillar of Salt)
Karen Finneyfrock

Do you remember when we met
in Gomorrah? When you were still beardless,
and I would oil my hair in the lamp light before seeing
you, when we were young, and blushed with youth
like bruised fruit. Did we care then
what our neighbors did
in the dark?

When our first daughter was born
on the River Jordan, when our second
cracked her pink head from my body
like a promise, did we worry
what our friends might be
doing with their tongues?

What new crevices they found
to lick love into or strange flesh
to push pleasure from, when we
called them Sodomites then,
all we meant by it
was neighbor.

When the angels told us to run
from the city, I went with you,
but even the angels knew
that women always look back.
Let me describe for you, Lot,
what your city looked like burning
since you never turned around to see it.

Sulfur ran its sticky fingers over the skin
of our countrymen. It smelled like burning hair
and rancid eggs. I watched as our friends pulled
chunks of brimstone from their faces. Is any form
of loving this indecent?

Cover your eyes tight,
husband, until you see stars, convince
yourself you are looking at Heaven.

Because any man weak enough to hide his eyes while his neighbors
are punished for the way they love deserves a vengeful god.

I would say these things to you now, Lot,
but an ocean has dried itself on my tongue.
So instead I will stand here, while my body blows itself
grain by grain back over the Land of Canaan.
I will stand here
and I will watch you
run.

Dear capri,

Last week All Out joined Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma in affirming that NO nation should make it a crime to be who you are and love who you choose.

Over 30,000 citizens from every commonwealth country added their voice to the powerful statement we delivered to Mr. Sharma. And hundreds of All Out members shared powerful testimonials about living, and loving, in countries that make it a "crime" to be LGBT, some of which we also shared with the Secretary General and his staff. Here are just a few of those moving stories that our members sent in over the course of the campaign:

"My country lives on borrowed laws, placed when we were under British rule. The UK has done away with their own homophobic laws but Sri Lanka holds on to them as if they were part of our own heritage."
-Natalie, Sri Lanka

"I received a death threat for my activism on behalf of Jamaican gays and when I reported it to the police the officer went on a homophobic rant. Jamaica's anti-sodomy law makes police ignore my rights."
-Maurice, Jamaica

"Criminalization is oppression of our bodies and our identities. We all have a right to love freely without fear and violence. Decriminalization is the first step towards recognizing this right." -Anuradha, Bangledesh

We're going to be honest, the meetings were a disappointment. Despite pressure from the Secretary General, and courageous activism from LGBT activists across the commonwealth, leaders of member nations in Perth over the weekend ruled out supporting a Commonwealth-wide decriminalisation of homosexuality.

But this fight is far from over. As a growing global movement for LGBT equality, we will keep fighting until NOBODY is illegal -- and we're going to need your help. The fact that it's a "crime" to be lesbian, gay, bi or trans in almost 80 countries around the world is just plain wrong. And while we know that getting rid of these laws won't happen overnight, the more we work together as a global community to challenge them, the closer we will get to scrapping these laws one by one, and living in a world where EVERYBODY is equal, everywhere.

All the best and All Out,
Andre, Emmy, Erika, Flavia, Guillaume, Jeremy, Joseph, Nita, Oli, Prerna, Tile, Wesley and the rest of the team at All Out


P.S. Do you live in one of the almost 80 countries around the world that criminalize LGBT relationships? All Out is working on a powerful new project to tell those stories, and we want to hear from you. Write us at wearenotillegal@allout.org and we'll tell you how you can get involved, or visit: www.allout.org/wearenotillegal



SOURCES:

CHOGM fails to move on homosexuality, human rights
www.gaynewsnetwork.com.au/news/northern-territory/2538-chogm-fails-to-move-on-homosexuality-human-rights.html

All Out campaign. Commonwealth: Time for a Change.
www.allout.org/wearenotillegal

Time for Oppression of Gays to Stop
www.perthnow.com.au/news/special-features/time-for-oppression-of-gays-to-stop/story-fnamyn6p-1226176661584

Rudd to call for end to anti-gay laws
www.starobserver.com.au/news/2011/10/19/rudd-to-call-for-end-to-anti-gay-laws

Former British colonies may nix homosexuality bans in effort to battle high HIV rates
www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2011/10/18/2011-10-18_former_british_colonies_may_nix_gay_bans_malayasia_australia_asked_to_legalize_h.html

Commonwealth 'fails to stand up for democracy'
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8837014/Commonwealth-fails-to-stand-up-for-democracy.html

This Alien Legacy: The Origins of "Sodomy" Laws in British Colonialism. Human Rights Watch. 2008.
www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/12/17/alien-legacy

End the Commonwealth's Silence on Homophobia
www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/low/article/takeaction/partners/1357.html




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