Thursday, December 28, 2006
Thank you Steve and Stephanie...
What could connect a five year old boat trip and the latest issue of The Advocate? If you'd like to know, Read on.
Five years ago, as I embarked the Rainbow Warrior, the flagship of Greenpeace, I knew the trip I was about to begin would be one of my life's most memorable experiences. As a staff member of the then 30-year old environmental organization, I was encouraged to take a trip on the boat, and what better event to sail to than Greenpeace's 30th anniversary party on the piers of Manhattan's west side?
I knew the trip ahead was going to be one filled with many memorable moments. Little did I know, however, that being aboard that ship would connect me to an incredible group of people in a way no one ever imagined; people who, for the rest of my life, I will be inextricably linked.
So, there I was, aboard this incredible ship, rich with history, with these amazing people. Off the coast of Massachusetts we saw the majesty of whales breaching and, as we sailed down the east coast, a group of dolphins swam alongside the front of the ship swimming ahead as if to guide us on our journey.
Over the years, the Warrior has hosted visits by the Dalai Lama and the band U2. The ship has been used to evacuate an island contaminated by radiation, participated in actions to prevent the killing of whales, and years after my trip, provided relief after the 2004 South East Asia Tsunami. I had no idea that the ship was about to, once again, be present at one of those moments that will be remembered for generations. (The current Rainbow Warrior was launched on July 10, 1989, on the fourth anniversary of the bombing of the original by the French government.)
On this day, September 11, 2001, we were just off the coast of Long Island headed to New York City. As we sailed along the shore toward Manhattan, a rising plume of smoke could be seen in the distance. It was, no doubt, skyward-headed proof of the horror we had witnessed earlier in the boat's small, crowded radio room on an old TV with fuzzy reception.
After spending the day anchored off the coast of Manhattan, we were directed by the Coast Guard to continue down the east coast and then up the Delaware River to Philadelphia.
This was not the time to question such directives.
The remainder of our trip was surreal. The feelings of safety I felt aboard this ship at sea, away from the horror of the day, were only bested by my strong desire to want to be on land, at home, on familiar ground.
As ordered, we made our way up the Delaware and docked in Philadelphia, where we we hopped in a van for the trip back to DC. It felt very strange to step back into a world that had been so rocked. As each of us was dropped off at our respective homes, we knew this experience would bind us together for a lifetime.
For that experience, Greenpeace will always hold a special place in my heart.
It is those types of connections at Greenpeace that contributed to my excitement, five years later when I saw lesbian and gay environmentalists as the subject of a feature story in the latest issue of The Advocate. In a great story, spanning seven pages, Rachel Powell profiles no less than five Greenpeacers.
I cannot begin to describe the sense of pride I feel in my out lesbian and gay colleagues at Greenpeace, especially Steve Smith and Stephanie Hillman of the US office. I had the honor of working alongside Steve and Stephanie…There are no people more committed to saving the planet than these two. To know we are inextricably linked because our mutual connections to the world's best know environmental organization, makes me all the more prideful.
Being out in the gay and lesbian activist world is one thing. Being out and proud in a field which thrives on the machismo of sailors and forest saving is entirely something else. Thank you Steve, Stephanie and all of those profiled for your work for being out and for your undying commitment to the planet.
Click on these links to see profiles of Steve Smith and Stephanie Hillman from The Advocate.
Special thanks to Anne Dougherty for providing the photograph from aboard the Rainbow Warrior. Since its inception Greenpeace has held firm to the principle of bearing witness. It is the talents of Greenpeace's gifted photographers that document the worst travesties against our planet, for all to see. Thank you, Anne.
Five years ago, as I embarked the Rainbow Warrior, the flagship of Greenpeace, I knew the trip I was about to begin would be one of my life's most memorable experiences. As a staff member of the then 30-year old environmental organization, I was encouraged to take a trip on the boat, and what better event to sail to than Greenpeace's 30th anniversary party on the piers of Manhattan's west side?
I knew the trip ahead was going to be one filled with many memorable moments. Little did I know, however, that being aboard that ship would connect me to an incredible group of people in a way no one ever imagined; people who, for the rest of my life, I will be inextricably linked.
So, there I was, aboard this incredible ship, rich with history, with these amazing people. Off the coast of Massachusetts we saw the majesty of whales breaching and, as we sailed down the east coast, a group of dolphins swam alongside the front of the ship swimming ahead as if to guide us on our journey.
Over the years, the Warrior has hosted visits by the Dalai Lama and the band U2. The ship has been used to evacuate an island contaminated by radiation, participated in actions to prevent the killing of whales, and years after my trip, provided relief after the 2004 South East Asia Tsunami. I had no idea that the ship was about to, once again, be present at one of those moments that will be remembered for generations. (The current Rainbow Warrior was launched on July 10, 1989, on the fourth anniversary of the bombing of the original by the French government.)
On this day, September 11, 2001, we were just off the coast of Long Island headed to New York City. As we sailed along the shore toward Manhattan, a rising plume of smoke could be seen in the distance. It was, no doubt, skyward-headed proof of the horror we had witnessed earlier in the boat's small, crowded radio room on an old TV with fuzzy reception.
After spending the day anchored off the coast of Manhattan, we were directed by the Coast Guard to continue down the east coast and then up the Delaware River to Philadelphia.
This was not the time to question such directives.
The remainder of our trip was surreal. The feelings of safety I felt aboard this ship at sea, away from the horror of the day, were only bested by my strong desire to want to be on land, at home, on familiar ground.
As ordered, we made our way up the Delaware and docked in Philadelphia, where we we hopped in a van for the trip back to DC. It felt very strange to step back into a world that had been so rocked. As each of us was dropped off at our respective homes, we knew this experience would bind us together for a lifetime.
For that experience, Greenpeace will always hold a special place in my heart.
* * *
It is those types of connections at Greenpeace that contributed to my excitement, five years later when I saw lesbian and gay environmentalists as the subject of a feature story in the latest issue of The Advocate. In a great story, spanning seven pages, Rachel Powell profiles no less than five Greenpeacers.
I cannot begin to describe the sense of pride I feel in my out lesbian and gay colleagues at Greenpeace, especially Steve Smith and Stephanie Hillman of the US office. I had the honor of working alongside Steve and Stephanie…There are no people more committed to saving the planet than these two. To know we are inextricably linked because our mutual connections to the world's best know environmental organization, makes me all the more prideful.
Being out in the gay and lesbian activist world is one thing. Being out and proud in a field which thrives on the machismo of sailors and forest saving is entirely something else. Thank you Steve, Stephanie and all of those profiled for your work for being out and for your undying commitment to the planet.
Click on these links to see profiles of Steve Smith and Stephanie Hillman from The Advocate.
Special thanks to Anne Dougherty for providing the photograph from aboard the Rainbow Warrior. Since its inception Greenpeace has held firm to the principle of bearing witness. It is the talents of Greenpeace's gifted photographers that document the worst travesties against our planet, for all to see. Thank you, Anne.
By: Michael Rogers
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