Fight For Marriage Equality Not Over On Navajo Nation; Huffington Post, 7/2/15

Julian Brave Noisecat, Huffington Post; Fight For Marriage Equality Not Over On Navajo Nation:

"However, many contemporary LGBTQ Navajo point to historical accounts of same-sex unions and even the prominence of the nádleehí -- third-gender people -- in Navajo creation stories. Today, many LGBTQ Navajos embrace the term nádleehí or identify as "two-spirit," to reclaim Navajo and indigenous traditions honoring LGBTQ people. In a 2009 academic article, Navajo Nation Human Rights Commissioner and University of New Mexico Professor Jennifer Denetdale argues the homophobia and heteronormativity of the Diné Marriage Act reflects the hegemony of American colonization on the Navajo people.

Nelson agrees with her position. "When I'm reading comments from Navajo leaders, it seems like the majority of them came from the boarding-school era, and so everything that they were taught from that time of assimilation is so full of misunderstanding, fear and hate for our own people," he said. "It seems like the U.S. government did a very good job at training our Navajo men and women -- our brothers and sisters -- to be their own oppressor."

At stake are the values and traditions all Navajos hold dear.

"I have been raised and I have been taught, through our teachings, that we take care of each other, we look out for each other and we are all related," Crotty said. "And never in those discussions, in those prayers and in those songs, were there any types of exclusions.""