I'm seeking gay and hetero friends of gays to form a progressive social issues think tank through the Internet. Qualifications include intelligence, activism, concern and committment, but not necessarily a college degree. However, those in academia are invited to join to provide expert knowledge and credibility to the endeavor. I would like to see a limited core group formed who would communicate among themselves weekly, but not limit the number of members who wish to input into the discussion. How can we best accomplish this? It could be set up as a moderated mailing list or restricted WWW site. But these decisions can be made by the members as the organization is being formed.
Of primary importance are ways to effectively fight the right wing and fundamentalist issues in the national conscience. I would like this issue to be our first concern. Secondarily, our concerns should not focus exclusively on gay rights issues. I conceive of a broader-based civil rights and social policy forum. I suggest the discussion be directed from the viewpoint of eliminating discriminatory laws (i.e., crime against nature, sodomy, pornography), strengthening privacy rights and legislating anti-discriminatory penalties rather than seeking special status, i.e., gay rights. This principle is inclusionary rather than exclusionary in that it applies to all the people.
One topic of importance concerns the political immaturity and naivete of many gay political leaders and organizations. For example, the March on Washington has a terible record on fundraising and agreeing on issues without much bitterness and infighting. How can we heal this?
Periodic reports would be published and posted to a website.
We need experts in the following fields:
Law - particularly tort, constitutional and civil rights
History - concentration in social, gay and minorities issues
Sociology -
Psychology -
Anthropology - cultural
Philosophy -
Medicine - AIDS and genetics related
Political Science -