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Chris Mason will tour the country to raise awareness of sexual-orientation issues. (David Kamerman/Globe Staff) |
CAMBRIDGE
On the road to sexual equality
Board members share city's story
When it comes to supporting the civil rights of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, there are progressive politics and then there are progressive Cambridge politics.
To promote the local zeitgeist that made Cambridge the first US city to allow gay marriage, members of the city's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Commission have embarked on a number of personal and collaborative projects that will take them around the city, state, and country.
"Cambridge is very special to me," said resident Chris Mason, a 27-year-old Tufts University student and member of the commission. "I was here at midnight in 2004 on May 17 when they opened the doors [at City Hall] and had the first legal same-sex marriage in the country."
Mason is planning a 106-day road trip through 48 states beginning in May to raise awareness about sexual-orientation equality. "I wanted to see what kind of discrimination GLBT people face in their states and what progress we've made," he said in a recent interview in his East Cambridge apartment.
"I have this love for traveling and my other passion is activism, especially GLBT activism, so I thought I'd combine the two," he said, adding that he came up with the idea for the trip a year ago.
Mason and his boyfriend, who is a film student at San Francisco State University, will average about 300 miles every few days, staying in cities such as Little Rock, Ark., and Tampa. In each city, Mason will interview community organizers and activists for a documentary he is producing.
"I wanted to see what other activists were doing in their states and what kind of discrimination GLBT people face in their states," he said. They plan to compensate for the environmental impact of his trip by purchasing carbon offsets and sleeping in a tent most nights, and Mason plans to return to Cambridge for the fall semester.
To raise the $25,000 he estimates the trip and documentary production will cost, Mason has held a series of events linked to the activities of prominent Christian church leaders who are against gay marriage.
When Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps, who also founded an antigay website, traveled to Boston in December to picket the Boston Center for the Arts production of "The Laramie Project," Mason organized a "Phelps-a-thon," during which donors pledged a certain amount of money per minute of his protest in the South End.
Last month, Mason coordinated a similar "Rick-a-thon" that ran concurrent with evangelical minister Rick Warren's invocation during the presidential inauguration. Each event garnered more than $4,000 in donations; Mason has raised over $10,000 so far.
Mason, other commission members, and local high school students are planning a response to a scheduled appearance by Phelps outside Cambridge Rindge & Latin on March 13 to protest the city high school's Gay Straight Alliance club, Project 10 East.
"I saw that he's coming to Cambridge, my hometown, and I thought, 'we gotta do something here,' " Mason said.
John Gintell, 70, cochairman of the city commission, emphasized the importance of such initiatives in furthering discussion about sexual-orientation issues.
"It's a great way to get political awareness among young people," he said, adding that GLBT individuals of all ages struggle against homophobia.
Ethnic minorities make up a segment of the population that sometimes gets overlooked, said commission cochairman Sarav Chithambaram.
"Living in the States brings a lot of challenges as a minority community member, as a South Asian or Indian," he said.
Chithambaram, an engineer at
Mason said that the city's liberal reputation makes it an occasional target for ridicule.
"I don't know how people can dig on Cambridge," he said. "I think what they're saying is that Cambridge is an incredibly liberal city and an incredibly progressive city, which are great things."
He said Cambridge was the first US city to have an African-American gay mayor and an African-American lesbian mayor, while Gintell noted that Cambridge is among a handful of US cities with a commission protecting the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals. Chithambaram said his presence on the commission testifies to the city's diversity.
"It's not often that people see South Asians being visible, and I can make a difference just being there. People will see me and say, 'He's Asian, and he's gay. That's OK.' "
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
