“One Dream, One world, One Community”
by Chris Kimes

• Chair of Membership and Fundraising, Rainbow Pride of WV
• Vice President, Kanawha Stonewall Democrats

Cross-posted at Kanawha Stonewall Democrats

“One Dream, One world, One community”
I recently read these words about a program for Martin Luther King’s Birthday and began to think of their implications for our community, the GLBT in West Virginia. Too many times we find ourselves making excuses for instances when we plainly should be trying to come to some resolve.

I do believe that most GLBT citizens of West Virginia want to live in a state that recognizes them as active citizens and treats them with the same respect and dignity it does of all its other citizens. This is not an unreachable dream; it just takes people from throughout the state becoming visible and making the commitment of working with one another to fulfill and ensure this occurs. While this posting shall not elaborate on politics; the principle idea, mobilizing the masses, is what is at the root. We need to mobilize people around the principle of unity, not in one of division and segregation.

This point is very important because as a recent newcomer to the Kanawha Region, I kept remembering how I felt when I lived in different sections of the state. I had the ideal that if you were from the northern part of the state, then your opinions were not seen as value to the community in the Kanawha/Huntington region. How far from the truth was I to hold these ill-fledge ideas. Within the coming months I have been welcomed with open arms into various groups and have seen first hand the desire that these organizations have for state wide involvement. People in these groups speak of their efforts to get others to join or become active and unfortunately have no avail.

It is to this later end that I send a heartfelt appeal to the GLBT community of West Virginia. Please do not fall within the trap that I had before about what seems to be the rationale for you or what seems to be comfortable. The organizations that have helped to lead the cause for GLBT rights, i.e. West Virginia Foundation for Equality and Rainbow Pride of West Virginia, need support and the assistance from people throughout the state. Too many times people get absorbed into drama of this or that and forget the true purpose of what we are trying to accomplish. Please overcome these shortfalls and help either of these organizations in their attempt to strive for acceptance in West Virginia. Together as a united front we can help to achieve the vision of one community.

I shall strive to continue to post ways that I feel that together we can help to achieve our dream of “One Community”