"Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?" (MLK Jr.)

This week The Center has been featuring quotations from pioneering activists, writers and political leaders on social media that speak to the cause of social justice and equity. As we enter a period of uncertainty, one in which the signs of a hardening culture are already apparent, I find myself thinking of another.

Writing from a Birmingham jail cell in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., asked the following:

Will we be extremists for hate or for love?
Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice
or for the extension of justice?

-- from an e-mail sent out this morning by Glennda Testone, executive director of New York's LGBT Center (known as The Center)

by Ken

I have my day pretty well blocked out activity-wise so that I won't have to deal directly with, you know, that stuff going on today. Naturally I recognize that this doesn't change the reality of, you know, that stuff the least little bit. Still, it's my way of coping, at least for a day.

In this morning's e-mail, though, I found and actually clicked through to the letter sent out by Glennda Testone, executive director of The Center, from which I've lifted the above Martin Luther King Jr. quote, which indeed seems mightily appropriate to the day.

I think it's an extraordinary letter, and I'm passing it along, not particularly because of its concern for issues of LGBT justice over the coming years, but because of the way it frames the issue of justice generally, which is obviously of concern to many other groups -- and individuals -- who find ourselves likely targets of the ugliness that the 2016 presidential campaign brought out, or maybe just reflected. So while the specifics, so smartly set out by Ms. Testone for the LGBT community, will vary for other at-risk groups and individuals, the general theme and of course the need to band together to fight the threat seem to me to have widespread application.

The only note I want to add is that while the letter is clearly, in a general sense, a fund-raising letter, with its repeated references like "the support of thousands of people like you," it approaches the day in the spirit of a dedication, a mission statement, a call for solidarity. The closest it comes to a direct appeal for, you know, money is that little tan button, "Support Our Work," in the header box. And since what you see here is a screen-shot graphic, with no live link, I do want to include that link, for anyone who may be inclined to follow it: gaycenter.org. (And the small-type links at the end of the letter should be live.)

Dear Center Friends & Supporters,

A few hours from now, a new President will take the oath of office. The transition will usher in an administration with more than a few officials whose careers have featured discriminatory policies and rhetoric aimed at the LGBT community. As the heart and the home for our community in New York City, we must be prepared for a fight in which LGBT equality is at stake.

By now, the catalogue of proposals that target or disproportionately affect the LGBT community may be sadly familiar. To name but a few: a sanctioning of anti-LGBT discrimination under the guise of the First Amendment; a repeal of the Affordable Care Act that extends essential protections to the transgender community and coverage to so many in the LGBT community; an attack on our parental rights in states across the country; talk of so-called conversion therapy for LGBT youth and tepid enforcement of protections ensuring their safety within schools; and, finally, an agenda that will leave LGBT immigrants at greater risk.

Because of you we're ready to meet any challenge.

The Center will double down on its commitment to serving some of the most vulnerable LGBT New Yorkers through our transgender livelihood program, immigrant opportunities initiative and youth development continuum. We'll continue enrolling community members in health care and linking them to affirming care while providing substance use treatment and HIV/AIDS prevention and support.

And, in the months ahead, with the support of thousands of people like you, we will continue to care for one another and to provide a home for a community dedicated to justice for all.

This has always been The Center story. It has its origins in our founding when brave women and men came together out of a commitment to one another and to future generations.

Thank you for all that you do to ensure opportunity and equality for our community.

This week The Center has been featuring quotations from pioneering activists, writers and political leaders on social media that speak to the cause of social justice and equity. As we enter a period of uncertainty, one in which the signs of a hardening culture are already apparent, I find myself thinking of another.

Writing from a Birmingham jail cell in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., asked the following:

Will we be extremists for hate or for love?
Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice
or for the extension of justice?

The commitment carried out here every day at The Center, and made possible by you, is and always will be squarely on the side of love, and in service of justice.

Yours in love and service,


Glennda Testone
Executive Director

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