This Is A Call.

It’s been a few weeks since I have written something and I feel that now is the time to open my mouth again. My question is: What has happened to the gay movement? I can remember back in the 80s there was ACT-UP. As a part of my coming out process I decided to join my local chapter of this once hell raising group. I can remember going to my first meeting and to be quite honest I was terrified because I was afraid of someone I knew or my mother knew (some of her gossiping ‘girlfriends’) seeing me. I finally mustered up enough strength and went to a meeting. It was quite liberating and frightening and the same time, but for some reason I felt at home.

Now, more than a decade later ACT-UP is defunct and as far as I can see we do not have a gay political party or person for that matter who is relevant to gay rights. Sorry folks, Andrew Sullivan, Camille Paglia, and the Log Cabin Party are not viable representations of the movement. So back to the question at hand…What happened? Here’s my take: As gay people got ‘accepted’ by the so-called mainstream we were lulled in to a sense of complacency. We believed that we all had expendable income, were successful and happy. Let’s face it; we all thought that we were living the American dream. When Bill Clinton was campaigning he promised that he would ensure that gays would have equal rights just like everyone else. However, once Clinton was elected he signed two bills that started a downward spiral for gay rights: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the infamous Defense of Marriage Act. There were some activist who cried foul about Clinton’s backpedaling (thank you Mr. Kramer and Mr. Mixner) but for the most part we just went along believing that since we were all successful, ‘happy’ and that AIDS was on the decline all was well in Gayland.

Now, it’s 2004 and we have one of the most openly anti-gay presidents running the country. He has promised that he would amend the Constitution that would ban gay marriages. What he did was pander to the lowest common denominator which was fear and the country (fifty-nine million of them, at least) caved in to that fear. As I was reading the Advocate this week, there was an article stating that many GLBT support groups have been inundated with calls from people who were going to come out but are now afraid to do so because of this election. My advice to those people is to not give up, and please come out of the closet. We need you!

I believe it’s time for all of us to start becoming politically active again. It has been more than ten years since we had the March On Washington and I haven’t seen anything like that since. We must start making everyone aware we are out there and we won’t settle for being second class citizens. Here are some suggestions:

1) Become politically involved in your community. Let your neighbors know that you don’t stand for what’s going on in Washington DC right now.
2) The next pride parade you attend, participate it in. Don’t just stand there and watch. (But by all means, please wear some clothes and make sure they are decent. Media coverage will always focus on those who walk around without shirts or in S&M garb. Our mothers raised us better than that.)
3) The next time someone says something homophobic; challenge them on what they said. It’s more than likely they haven’t a clue about what they are saying.
4) And last but not least, please, please, please come out of the closet. I know it’s a frightening thought for those of you who are still in there, but you must do it. Even if you tell your closest friend, it’s a start. In this day and age silence still equals death.


In closing, we may have let the media lull us into a false sense of security and the homophobic politicians hijack our fight for equal rights, but I believe that we can still win this fight. Now is the time to act up and take the fight for our rights to the next level.

Nuff said.