Except for a few pockets of irredeemable craziness, the notion that gay people should be reviled and disenfranchised has been put to rest. The gays won. Agreed? But how, and what can progressives learn from the way gays won?
I was going to write a post on this topic but for a variety of boring reasons, I got as far as the short list of a few thoughts on how I think the gays won. Rather than let it molder in the unpublished draft pile, I am turning it over to you, dear reader. If you think that the gays won, and that progressives can learn something from the win – please have a whack at finishing this post.
Here is what I have so far…
1) Support your shock troops
Long before most gay people I know were comfortable “coming out” there were activist and bomb throwers who forced the issue on a regular basis. Act Up, a group initially organized around AIDS awareness, was a very vocal and visible presence. While my more conservative friends sometimes thought that the activists were too strident or too pushy, particularly when some celebrity or politician was “outed” by the local gay press, there was general sense that the movement needed an avant-garde.
3) Have simple, just goals & keep on message
It does not take a lot of fancy salesmanship to get people on board with basic human decency. Whenever the opposition tried to turn the argument for gay rights into “the establishment of special rights” the…
4) Use your unity like a cudgel
5) Have fun, live your life