Activism and Self-Loathing

Mar . riage - 1 - The state of being married. 2. A close union That is the 'big' issue of gay rights for the past few years. The Terminator of California is going to veto a bill legalizing gay marriage in California. I see the horrors of poverty, New Orleans and growing complacency toward AIDS. Is this really worth all of our efforts when we have so many other issues to tackle in addition to gay marriage? After all, a lot of our issues (e.g. power of attorney, estates, property etc.) can be resolved with your average lawyer. It angers me sometimes that the gay community is so good at rallying support for something such as keeping Will and Grace on for another year, but when it comes to caring for our own community, we succumb to petty bickering. It pisses me off because unlike the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s - the gay community of today, unlike the civil rights community of those decades, has no sense of history and is so youth-centered that people in their mid-20s are considered to be entering the 'twilight' years of gay life. I see all of the strides the gay community has made. I see how much more accepting society in the U.S. has become and I want to scream at some of these people who are screaming 'oppression' for this marriage thing - look at Saudi Arabia, look at Iran. Places where people are executed for the very crime of being gay. THIS is oppression, folks. But then, I see how this anger I have is a manifestation of the self-hatred I've had to deal with growing up. I'm mad at how petty this gay marriage debate seems, but I know it's partially because I was taught to view being gay as being something abnormal. I grew up in the '80s and came of age in the early '90s. The big issue then was inter-racial dating and marriage - whereas the same BS arguments bestowed upon those couples "they can do whatever they want, but think of what the children will have to go through in school" are the same arguments I'm hearing now. So, yeah, I guess I would rather have the gay and lesbian activists be rallying to get more people involved in fighting poverty, AIDS and being more inclusive to older members of the community. But then, I do realize we need these agitators to keep hammering away at this unjust exclusion of rights. You can spin this marriage thing anyway you want - a church issue, a state issue - but in its essence is the fact that currently, gays and lesbians are second-class citizens with this law. Pre-emptive strikes for today... I've dated younger guys. So... yeah, I may be a bit hypocritical on this - but dudes who have the following in their profile... 35, bear - PVT only if you're cute, below 23 and not fat - well, don't expect to get much in terms of private messages. Those who are 23 are doing what 23-year-olds should be doing ... preying on the 18-year-olds. It's all good to be attractive to the younger crowd, but try, just try - to hit in your age bracket. You may be surprised...