Marriage Equality Not the End of Fight for LGBT Parity

By City News Service

While same-sex marriage proponents across the Coachella Valley hailed Friday’s Supreme Court ruling, those on the front-lines of the struggle for LGBT equality cautioned that much work remains to be done.

“Now that it is the rule of the land, now that folks can marry, we have to remember that there are 28 states that you can go to work tomorrow and you can be fired for being gay and lesbian,” said Ron deHarte, president of Greater Palm Springs Pride.

At Equality California’s desert cities chapter, field manager George Zander choked up as he recalled numerous members of the LGBT community who worked alongside him when he started the crusade in the 1970s, but didn’t survive to see this day.

“Forty percent of homeless youth in this country are LGBT,” he said. “Substance abuse and mental health issues are way higher in the LGBT community than in other communities.”

Other priorities include improving the quality of life for transgender people and dissuading perceptions that the LGBT community predominately consists of privileged, wealthy folks, Zander said.

Activists are lobbying for legislation at the state level to address some of the issues, he said.

“The work still has to continue,” Zander said. “And even though we’re still celebrating and having a wonderful party, we have a lot of work to do.”