So have you followed the news these days? I mean like the news that 365Gay shows? Not like it makes the news over at FOX or CNN, though it should, or maybe it shouldn’t?
I read this one about how some Gay college students are going around attempting to enlist, ( see 365Gay article ) and clearly identify themselves as Gay. Like we all know that is not going to them admitted, yet they persist. So I wonder is all this going to further anything?
Will the headlines of this city or that city recruitment office really going to change how the majority of Straight America perceives Gays? Or will it only add to their entrenched views that Gays are just trouble makers and sex fiends?
Why do we give the opposition such great ammunition to use against us?
I have been thinking a bit about all this, as I am contemplating a new story, and it makes me wonder, when does headlines become harmful to a cause? I mean yes, the Stonewall riots sparked a whole wave of change, but that was way back in the 70′s and I wonder, do we keep the same 30 odd year old tactics, or should we change with the times?
Seems to me that if we want to have equal rights, shoving things in people’s faces isn’t the easiest way to accomplish this. However, given that there are consititutional protection for equal rights, why can’t we use the court system to attack the inequalities? Seems to be working in many cases where some school board, or civil authority oversteps its bounds.
Eventually the issue will make its way to the Supreme Court, and if we attack this right, we win. The thing is do we win and then force more rounds of anti gay feelings or do we build a base that when we do win, we keep what we win?
Look at same sex marraige. Boston saw us win then lose as the people ran claiming ‘activist judges‘ and all, but if we had a better public relations gambit going, would all those 14 states that now ban gay marraige have won so easily?
Think about it, before you lose sight of the real prize. It is one thing to win a battle, quite another to win the blasted war. If we show that Gays/Lesbians are no different in values, in morals than the rest, will straight America be so quick to sign petitions to deny us what the courts grant? Hell will they even brand those courts as being activists?
The persona we have out there is what is hurting us more today than anything the religious right can come up with. We are doing to ourselves, yet hardly anyone sees this. I wonder why?
Battles can last minutes or hours, wars take years. Perhaps we need to exercise a bit of patience and come at this reasonably, and with a real battle plan. Instead of confrontation, let us get the real messages out there, instead of flamboyance, drugs, and sex, lets talk about kids, about family, about integrity, about long term committments. Let us show that being Gay isn’t just about parties, but about home cooked meals, about love and understanding.
Isn’t it time?
