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Friday, March 18, 2011

An Open Letter to Dan Ramos

From: Daniel Williams [legislativequeery@gmail.com]
Date: Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 3:18 PM
Subject: I'm a termite
To: Dan Ramos [dramos458@yahoo.com]

Dear Mr. Ramos,

I must admit that I found your recent comments claiming that LGBT people in general and the Stonewall Democrats specifically were like
"white termites who have infiltrated the [Democratic] party much like termites infiltrate your house" extremely upsetting. Although I have never been a member of the Baxar County Democratic party, of which you are chairman, I have been active in Democratic party politics in Denton, Dallas, Travis and Harris counties and initially found your statement to be shockingly ungrateful for all of the work that I, and people like me, have done to support the Democratic party.

I'm told that the Baxar county party treasurer is currently under indictment for embezzling funds. It must be frightening for you to have an organization you care about experiencing such troubles. I'm sure that there must be uninformed people who question how you are connected to the scandal. Under that stress I can understand why you might attempt to deflect criticism onto a group of people already held suspect by many.

I have mulled over your choice of term: "termites". I have to admit I have not spent much time considering termites or their attributes. So after my initial shock abated I decided to figure out exactly what it was I was being compared to. I discovered some interesting facts:
  • All termites are social insects, they live in highly organized communities with thousands of members (actually, that sounds a lot like living in the Cedar Springs area of Dallas or the Montrose area of Houston).
  • Young termites are responsible for the manual labor of the colony (I've had countless experiences walking door to door in support of Democratic candidates with different Stonewall Democratic clubs - inevitably the younger Stonewalls are out on the streets while the straight party stalwarts stay at the campaign headquarters and reminisce about the old days - so maybe, in that respect, we are a little like termites ).
  • Termite colonies work non-stop 24 hours a day (I've only met state Stonewall president Dan Graney a few times, but he always seems to be working - the same can be said for people like Brad Pritchett of Houston, Eli Olivarez of the Rio Grande Valley, Omar Narvaez of Dallas and countless other Stonewall leaders throughout the state. At any given time, I can assure you, a Stonewall Democrat is working for your party - maybe you're on to something with this whole "termite" thing).
  • Termites have been around for millions of years (and queer Democrats have been around since the party's inception -anyone who is just now noticing us just hasn't been paying attention).
Maybe you're right, maybe I am a termite. Maybe in your blind screed of bigotry you have hit upon a high compliment to the hard-working Stonewall Democrats all over the state. Maybe your particular brand of mental illness has granted you the superpower of uncannily identifying the most accurate animal analogue for a group of people. But be warned, because here's two more facts about termites:
  • When a termite colony is no longer hospitable - they swarm: large clouds of termites - thousands of them - leave the colony to find a better home
  • Termites cause approximately 2 billion dollars of damage nationwide each year. Just imagine how much damage LGBT Democrats could do if they, perhaps offended by some party leader's remark, decided to stop donating to the party.
So thank you for your compliment. Thank you for so succinctly describing the attributes, and power, of queer Democrats. Having correctly identified who my community is I request that you politely resign you position. Thank you, in advance, for your timely consideration.

Isopteraly,

Daniel Williams


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