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27 Feb 2008 06:45 pm

"We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For"

A reader writes:

It surprises me that some commentators see messianism in a phrase that strikes me as deeply anti-messianic.  The line is akin to "there's no Justice, there's just us" in that it calls on us to give up our fantasies of some deus ex machina descending to make everything right and just, and urges us to roll up our sleeves and get involved.

In a slightly different context, Reagan could have said it. As someone involved in the gay rights world for a while, it strikes me that this is also a core message we need to convey. The Clinton model - exemplified by the Human Rights Campaign - is: give us some big donor checks, we'll hire a lobbyist (if you're lucky), and we'll work the Democratic party establishment to give you your equality (which somehow never happens). Meanwhile: keep whining (and sending the checks). The Obama model is: you will only get your equality if you stand up for it, risk your job, status, even life for the sake of your own integrity. Stop whining and start explaining and persuading and acting.

So many gay people over the years have asked me where our "leader" is. It's the wrong question. We are the ones we have been waiting for. Be the change you want to see in the world. And the world changes. In exact proportion to the number of gay people who have abandoned their fear and self-hatred, it already has. No excuses, guys. And no need to wait.

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