Thank you Fabrice for reminding us that we get to decide when we have equality. And that it's ok to adapt our strategies, but not to give up. As always, thank you for leading the way.
In the years we were together - 1997 to 2001 - my first girlfriend and I kissed in public once and held hands twice. For the last 8 years, my wife and I have been as out as out can be and despite living in small Southern cities, we've only been met by warmth. I don't discount the role our white skin plays in this but I also don't discount the overall friendly lived experience.
I'm horrified by the amplification of those who would dehumanizing everyone who isn't a white cishet able-bodied nerotypical man and I will continue to trust and encourage the majority who live on a spectrum of not caring either way to being fully for equal rights for all.
In our last home, our neighbor who became a friend had clearly never spent time before with anyone like us - no one queer or Jewish or Black or brown (like our friends and extended family) and yet he was able to meet us as neighbors, with acceptance and in the spirit of community. May he be representative.
Indeed, we enjoyed some time of gradual progress, but unlike technology, which usually only progresses, human rights norms can also go backwards. We live at a time that people on the extreme right make Nazi gestures and people on the extreme left draw swastikas. I wish everyone was guided by empathy for all.
Thank you for this note, this week has been hard indeed. But we need to continue the momentum and perhaps also reflect on our strategies for the coming months (and years).
Fabrice, thank you for your strength in fighting on for what's right. People from my generation and those of us who have had to learn at a very young age to safely navigate through conservative societies - and our own mother languages - appreciate what you do. Courage to fight for our rights has yielded results from times way before D&I were a thing, and we will continue to inspire respect, no matter how people call it. My partner and I recently moved to a tiny village, and to our surprise, we have been warmly welcomed by all in this very traditional community. Stay strong, and know that your example of dignity achieves more than what you may notice.
Thank you Fabrice for reminding us that we get to decide when we have equality. And that it's ok to adapt our strategies, but not to give up. As always, thank you for leading the way.
In the years we were together - 1997 to 2001 - my first girlfriend and I kissed in public once and held hands twice. For the last 8 years, my wife and I have been as out as out can be and despite living in small Southern cities, we've only been met by warmth. I don't discount the role our white skin plays in this but I also don't discount the overall friendly lived experience.
I'm horrified by the amplification of those who would dehumanizing everyone who isn't a white cishet able-bodied nerotypical man and I will continue to trust and encourage the majority who live on a spectrum of not caring either way to being fully for equal rights for all.
In our last home, our neighbor who became a friend had clearly never spent time before with anyone like us - no one queer or Jewish or Black or brown (like our friends and extended family) and yet he was able to meet us as neighbors, with acceptance and in the spirit of community. May he be representative.
Indeed, we enjoyed some time of gradual progress, but unlike technology, which usually only progresses, human rights norms can also go backwards. We live at a time that people on the extreme right make Nazi gestures and people on the extreme left draw swastikas. I wish everyone was guided by empathy for all.
Thank you for this note, this week has been hard indeed. But we need to continue the momentum and perhaps also reflect on our strategies for the coming months (and years).
Fabrice, thank you for your strength in fighting on for what's right. People from my generation and those of us who have had to learn at a very young age to safely navigate through conservative societies - and our own mother languages - appreciate what you do. Courage to fight for our rights has yielded results from times way before D&I were a thing, and we will continue to inspire respect, no matter how people call it. My partner and I recently moved to a tiny village, and to our surprise, we have been warmly welcomed by all in this very traditional community. Stay strong, and know that your example of dignity achieves more than what you may notice.