Hey all! So, in the wake of the Supreme Court case and Prop 8, I feel kinda bad. I'm gay, but I really haven't done anything to show my support for the cause. Like, at all. I'm fully out and open about it, but I never really had the time to volunteer or anything. I feel guilty now because a lot of people I know are really involved in the LGBT community, and they're not even gay (not saying that's a prerequisite or anything), whereas I have a huge incentive to be involved, aaaaaand I'll I've done is change my Facebook picture XD I dunno, am I just bring super trivial here or should I seriously be doing something to guarantee my own right to marry someone someday?
Don't feel obligated to rush out and do something. You should do it if you want to, not because you feel guilty for not doing it - and it's not like you don't deserve equality unless you personally fight for it. That being said, however, it does feel nice to have been a part of the movement and I do encourage you to do something. Does your politics system have some sort of way to make personal submissions supporting/opposing laws? If it doesn't then I'm sure that you could write to a particular politician (maybe your local one) asking them to support it. It's not the flashiest way of showing your support but it's probably the most direct method.
Thanks for the replies! BrokenWings- Thats deep. Ridiculous- Thats exactly how I was feeling! I really respect people that are out on the front lines making a stand, but I can't do that right now. My state has civil unions, and a governor who's a LGBT supporter, but it would be worth looking into to see if my senators and house reps felt the same. Thanks for the advice!
That's great your local supports it already, but even so it's not a bad idea to thank them and encourage them to continue. They'll no doubt be getting tons of mail from people who oppose it, so it's nice for them to get feedback affirming their stance to keep them on our side.
Don't feel too bad. I don't think there has been any equal rights movement where every person affected was actively involved. Not everyone has the calling to actively campaign. And, even if you do feel so called, there will be opportunities in the future. No matter what happens with the Supreme Court, I'm sure there will be plenty of LGBT equality issues to deal with in coming years. You are already doing one thing of value: you say you are fully out. That may not seem like much, but it is something of huge value. One thing that helps LGBT acceptance is knowing LGBT people. Discrimination is easy when it's some faceless person who gets described by haters as a perverted freak (or worse). Discrimination is not so easy when you know your neighbor, your cousin, etc is gay.
Definitely! Up until recently, I was sort of pro-trans, but didn't really care all that much, and didn't really get the issue at all. Then, I met an FtM kid in a summer program I was volunteering in. And getting to know him, while seeing how the volunteer coordinators and such were treating him (trying to make him be a girl, using female pronouns, acting freaked out whenever someone else perceived him as male) got me really thinking about trans issues. Incidentally, one thing that sort of came as a surprise to me was that I'd gotten the impression that transsexuals tended to buy into gender stereotypes and try to act stereotypically like the gender they identified as. This kid wasn't like that. He came across as male, but as a guy who wasn't afraid of showing his feminine side as well. And it sort of brought home to me that gender identity and gender expression really are separate things. So yeah. Simply by being out, you are probably challenging some peoples' stereotypes and making them more aware of LGTB issues.
