BRAZENLY LIBERAL — a fact-based initiative

Barney Frank, whom I admire greatly, says it is.
Frank feels it would be a better expenditure of time and effort to lobby elected officials and get friends and family to do so, too.

Now, I’ve got to say this is a bit of an awkward slog for me.  Where do I get the nerve to think I know better than he? As a straight woman, I’ve seen the struggle – hated how it hurt people I love – but I haven’t lived it myself. And I’m smart enough to know there’s a world of difference between the two.

That having been said, I think he’s out of his fucking mind on this one.

Yes, if we want an end put to the discrimination faced by our gay brothers and sisters, contacting and pressuring elected officials is probably more concretely effective than milling about on the mall. But there’s no reason there can’t be both and plenty of reason there should be both.

It’s been a very long, maddeningly slow process. 10 years since Matthew Shepard, 40 years since Stonewall. Too many heartbreaking horror stories down the road.  But the tweets and notes I’m seeing today from marchers are full of joy and hope and renewal. How can that possibly be a waste of time?

If coming together in Washington provides a sense of community and renewal and recommitment – and perhaps even progress – it’s all good.  If it keeps the issue and its importance in front of the American people, that’s all good, too.  If it irritates the shit out of the rightwing nutjobs, well that’s just a sweet, sweet bonus.