Back in stride, up for the downstroke

I took a much needed break from posting after Wednesday. I apologize for not previously announcing it.

The battle over marriage equality in my state of South Carolina took more out of me than I cared to admit. It also allowed me to self-examine my role in the movement for gay equality.

And I did not like what I saw.

I have been involved in many organizations and endeavors in South Carolina but I have been unable to put my full potential behind a lot of the efforts we have attempted in this state. Mainly because many of these efforts were not what I wanted to do.

To put it plainly, I am of the opinion that we need to be more aggressive in exposing how the anti-gay industry lies about us. We need to put them on the spot, so the speak, about their "studies" and "research papers."

Unfortunately, some of my colleagues don't see the need in this. They tend to be more reactive than proactive, more symbolic than substantial. Some of my colleagues want to "win the hearts and minds" of those who oppose us.

The problem with this line of thinking is that a: you tend to put yourself in a position in which you are begging for "acceptance."

and b: you are under the incorrect assumption that all gays and lesbians are of the same mind.

To speak more to the second point, all of us are not of the same mind. Many of us do feel that we don't deserve our fair share of the American Dream and why is that?

Because of what we see and hear everyday from people like Lou Sheldon and Peter LaBarbera. I speak from personal experience. In college, I heard many of the negatives about being gay and there was no one there to speak with authority to say that the things I heard were lies. It put me in a bad funk that took me years to overcome.

Sadly, those lies continue to be repeated and other than a few places (i.e. Wayne Besen, Box Turtle Bulletin, Joe Brummer, and others) there are few places where we can go in which someone is saying "Lou Sheldon is lying on you," or "James Dobson is not telling the truth about your lives." Our leadership rarely focuses on making the anti-gay industry explain their attempts at propaganda.

And because of this, we are wasting a very good opportunity to turn this battle for gay equality in our favor. The thought on America's mind should not be "are gays and lesbians deserving of rights" but "why are these so-called traditional values organizations telling lies."

I intend to change that. To wit, I am rededicating myself to the exposure of the anti-gay industry. It shall be the focus that I will put more effort in achieving.