Do you leave it up to others to aquire your basic civil rights?

Ever since I was a teenager, 14 or so, I've been fairly active in educating myself in the world around me, and how it affects me as a gay man. I couldn't vote yet, but I could research, march, protest, and help others become more aware of the things I was now gaining knowledge of.

This was the early 1980's. AIDS was a new arrival, and was the trigger of my generation that set the community in full pissed-off motion. But from that, as well as all those gay activists from the Stonewall days and beyond, we have become more visible than ever.

But has that made the gay community soft?

While I don't expect everyone to spend all their time trying to push for the civil rights we deserve as legal, tax-paying citizens of this country, I'm amazed at how many people in the gay community give me a "I really don't care about politics" kind of answer when it comes to legislation regarding the rights of gay Americans.

Is it just me...? Or has the community lost it's anger?

Well firstly I don't live in America, and gay marriage in the UK was only finally legalised a few years ago. But certainly people of the generation before mine fought long and hard for my rights to be heard, and I will be eternally grateful.
However I don't think the gay community has lost its anger. Certainly, at 25 years of age, I have suffered more in my life as a gay man than my heterosexual friends have. None of them have been "straight-bashed". I regularly go on marches, demonstrations, and always make sure my voice is heard. We are currently trying to get the blanket ban on gays donating blood in the UK lifted. It's absolutely ridiculous, and also extremely presumptuous.
I think maybe the gay youth of today have become somewhat complacent. They don't realise that things can change for the worse at the drop of a hat. Partial blame has to go to the gay press who it seems are more interested in selling gay porn than informing us of those trying to take our rights away.
It is because of people like you, and those that came before you, that I can walk down the street with my boyfriend in the city I grew up in and no longer have to look over my shoulder. I thank you for that, and applaud you.

I don't think it has lost its anger, I think the community is too divided right now to try to change things.

You know I live in a gay area in Vancouver. During the last federal election (when the conservative party was threatening to take gay marriage away from us), I worked in one of the polling stations. I was absolutely amazed at how few glbt people came in to vote!! We had one of the lowest turnouts of any station. I am a firm believer in saying that if you don't vote you don't have any right to complain. I just found it very disappointing. We had fought so hard for those rights and the younger gays were now just not interested in maintaining them.

The community has lost it's anger. I'm up there with you.

I hear people say, "I dont pay attention to politics" and stuff like that all the time. So I ask, "How will gays ever get the right to marriage? What will you do when even more of are rights are stripped away from us?" ..etc.

"Individuality and freedom disappear when people sit down and shut up" -Neshan Al-Bayati (my brother)

No, it isn't you. The whole country and the community has gotten fat and apathetic because the current White House occupant (that drunk-driving, dope-dealing, draft-dodging son of a Bush) won't give us our basic civil rights, and he just says,"NO!" and we just sit back and shut up.

To the Log Cabiners: are you satisfied? They don't want you. They don't want your vote. They only want your money so they can continue ignoring you, legislating against you and otherwise imprisoning you.