Lack of clear leaders in the gay rights movement

The reason for that is that homophobia is rapidly falling out of the mainstream.

For example...when the civil rights movement achieved its goals and racism went from common to highly distasteful, Black Americans no longer needed any single leader to represent them. Rather, there's a large panel of prominent Black leaders who each do a little bit of good collectively.

Same thing for the gay community. Instead of one big leader making big change, we have a bunch of people doing a little bit of good each.

 

I would say too its more of a state level thing - Canada has overall *with holes* decent protection, but the US does it state by state. If it were a country wide thing, I would imagine more of a prominent presence by those doing the work. Hopefully, in the next ten years or so, both countries will have fair, equal rights for ALL people, regardless of creed, color, or orientation.

 

Clear leaders suck.

People end up attacking the leaders to in order to undermine the ideas. Then others defend the leaders no matter what. And it ends up being about the people instead of about the actual issues.

They're not needed.

 

People like Ellen and Dan Savage are considered semi-leaders. They're not prominent either but like Zontar said, it's because its falling out of mainstream

 

I agree with this. Ellen said before that she would consider herself an "accidental activist". I think that is very true. She made a huge statement in 1997 and had done a lot for the community. But right now she isn't really an outspoken activist, but her way of reaching so many people to advocate for kindness and fun helps change a lot of people’s opinions about the gay community. I like this article about ellen and the one million mom thing, about how the situation was used for the benefit of the lgbt movement: Scott Wooledge: A Round of Applause for the 'Million Moms' and Their Anti-Gay Campaign... Seriously

People’s minds are changing and there are lots of leaders out there working towards it. I feel like it just isn't the right time in some states to force the issue and antagonize the people who would be on our side. I think savage said it better than I would have in an interview with Keith Oberman:
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SAVAGE: The New York Times said that she was very courageous and brave. And I think that's overstating it. She was cautious and slow. And ultimately she was correct to take it slow.
I interviewed Christine Gregoire numerous times, at my paper, The Stranger, in Seattle and we would press her on this issue and she's get this little twinkle in her eye and she would say, "You know, we're just not there yet. Washington State isn't ready yet." And it was almost like listening to Obama say, "I'm evolving." Like, you could see that behind the politician there was a human being that was going, "I'm with you, but politically, it's not possible right now."
And she, you know, she's a smart politician. She ran the numbers and figured out that it's possible now and now she moved. All credit to her, props to her. She and Ed Murray, our state senator who led this flight, and Jamie Peterson, the state rep who led this fight, they were right to take it in pieces, to take it slow to build to here.
But it wasn't an act of political courage or bravery, it was an act of political caution and calculation.
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(Wow that got long really fast ... sorry for the long read if you made it though it)

 

lets not forget that gay leaders who truly step forward run the risk of being murdered.

 

Dead God, people actually think Lady Gaga is our leader? I'm going to sleep with a good dose of strychnine...

But seriously, why do we need a leader? Isn't it better to just we widespread? Many voices agreeing with gay rights is better than one person claiming to speak for all of us all he time.

 

I do agree that there don't seem to be any clear leaders in this movement. I think its a good thing. This way it doesn't seem like it's "oh these few people want something, and they have some people following them." Instead it's more of the image that there are many people in society believing this has to change.

 

What's wrong with Gene Robinson? I know he's not perfect. I know he's not the quintessential picture of charisma, but even MLK Jr. Had to start somewhere.

Ellen DeGeneres is a very nice lady. She is a very well-liked woman. Personally, I find her personality grating and intolerable, but I think she's an incredibly decent human being in general and a good leader for the LGBT community.

We have leaders. We just have many of them, in many different walks of life.

 

I feel like our quasi-leaders are enough for the point we are at. We're not facing the same situations and troubles as we did 10-20 years with the AIDs crisis and the murders of Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo, and Brandon Teena. The gay panic defense is consider hogwash, and we're slowly winning the support of people. We don't need a Leader, we just need group of people to help advocate for us.