I've gotten alot of questions recently about exactly what the direction and nature of our organization is. In case it has remained unclear even after these few Xanga posts, let me clarify.

HRC and many other gay rights groups in the United States have taken a frighteningly passive stance toward the equality of the GLBT community. When you go to HRC's website you see an awful lot of information on writing petitions, making websites, lobbying congressmen, and forming discussion groups. This has become the trend. The same group of society that brought about Stonewall now finds itself sitting around and discussing while many of us must daily deal with discrimination and hate. Just yesterday morning I awoke to find "FAGGOT" spray painted on my front door. Have we grown so blind that we can now truly believe that discussion is an appropriate response to situations like Matthew Shepard? We certainly would never advocate the use of violence, but we also cannot simply rely on a system that has done nothing but beat down the homosexual, bisexual, and transgender communities for as long as anyone can remember. Stonewall was the beginning, but regardless of what HRC, GLSEN, and other such organizations may preach we are nowhere near the end. It saddens me to look back on an age where groups like the Gay Liberation Front and the Lavender Menace stood up in open defiance to the destructive social system that had forced generations upon generations to live in self-loathing, and then to look at the state of the gay rights movement today and see a complete retrograde back to an age where the GLBT community cowered in whimpering pathetic shame before the monolithic establishment

What does Mattachine stand for? Everything these organizations DONT. We believe that it is not the responsibility of the GLBT to alter his/herself in order to be accepted by society  It is society's responsibility to accomodate the GLBT. The United States Consitution is a contract. Our loyalty is pledged to our nation under the condition that our government provides for our general welfare and freedom. The government of the United States has time and time again breached this contract, and we believe its time to renegotiate. We stand for change and we demand that it happen immediatley. Many say that patience is neccessary in order to resolve the conflict between mainstream society and the so-called "gay subculture", but patience is never demanded in a situation where a human being is being denied equal rights. Regardless of what many concessionists may say, the GLBT is still a second-class citizen, and this condition of living is unacceptable. We do make submissive requests to an uncaring government, we demand those things that are due to a still oppressed minority in what so many consider an age of enlightenment. During the civil right movement of the 1960's the homophile organizations were all but forgotten, but now our time has come. The liberation of the GLBT community is at hand, but in order to bring about this new era we must be committed to the fight. If history proves to be any indication, then active attack on the established ways of thinking of and viewing sexuality are the only method by which we can acquire liberation. The passing of empty meaningless legislation serves no useful purpose when the hearts and minds of American citizens are still stuck in the hateful and discriminatory line of thinking that breeded such horrible incidents like the death of Matthew Shepard. We stand for change, change in government, change in society, and change in the hearts of the people. We do not stand for passive discussion, because in the face of a tyrannical and oppressive regime this does nothing but express impotence. Be a part of history. Join the movement.

With pride,

THE MATTACHINE SOCIETY