March Blog

For my March blog post I chose this part of Amy Arellano’s poetry,

Silenced

from a child

to an impersonal number

that is no longer funded by the state

I am not using my heart to promote propaganda

Nor trying to turn a child into a homosexual soldier

I just know we would make good parents

It has been 3 months

3 months since I have seen her naked in our mirror

Now I just hold her head in our nursery

Nursing her wounds

That she is not the reason we do not have a family

But a bill that thinks two loving people

Make unfit parents.

All of Arellano’s poetry really made an impact on me so it was difficult to choose just one part. But this particular part left the biggest impact on me. It made my eyes get watery and it made my chest feel tight with frustration. I wanted to throw my laptop and scream at the top of my lungs that this was an injustice and it wasn’t fair and it made me want to stand in solidarity with this couple. And I think that feeling that came over me made me realize just how powerful not only the poem was, but Amy Arellano herself as an advocate. Her tone was humble, not overpowering. She added a voice, a story to the narrative. She told her personal life in a way that was real and raw and at the same time, without coming out and asking for it directly, she built an alliance. For people that don’t want to join the alliance, she at least put a thought in their head.  “ I am not using my heart to promote propaganda.” I really liked this line because I think that it is another tool she uses to show that this is her real life and her real feelings, it’s not about the political argument, it’s about how these politics are actually genuinely affecting people. The poem was a raw and real human experience as well as powerful tool of advocacy and I think that’s what is truly remarkable.” I am not using my heart to promote propaganda

Nor trying to turn a child into a homosexual soldier

I just know we would make good parents” this part really stuck out to me for two reasons. The first being that it showed the frustration she was feeling, she knows better than anyone in the government if they would make good parents and essentially she’s being told no for nothing other than pure discrimination. The second reason it stood out to me was because of the fact that she had to state she wasn’t trying to turn a child into a homosexual warrior. I think that a common line of a homophobic person, politician or not, is that they don’t want children exposed to homosexuality, weather its on TV or by adopted parents. To me, that line was almost the saddest part because it seems like “turning a child into a homosexual soldier” is an actual counter argument. While the whole collection of work made me feel something, this last chunk was the one that stood out to me the most and really tugged on my heart. I also think it taught me a lot about what advocacy is and looks like and I think it inspired me to be a better ally.