Friday, March 23, 2007
The future is in Mississippi and Connecticut....
I am writing this post from a packed auditorium at Central Connecticut State University attending the Our True Colors Conference. The room seats 3,000 and the it's full! Three thousand young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, youth and their supporters are screaming with pride at the opening session. When I came out in 1986, a scene like this was impossible to imagine. I'm here to teach workshops on blogging and the use of 'outing' as a political tool.Meanwhile, down south and further west, Kyle and his band of fellow Equality Riders are laying it all on the line for a better tomorrow. Being arrested for nothing more than wanting to talk.
The comparison is stunning. And, as different as the two experiences is for those in attendance, each point to the future. In Mississippi and Connecticut...and in every state across this nation, our community's young people are saying "enough already." Enough misunderstanding, enough hate, enough discrimination, enough homophobia, enough racism, enough classism.
Young people today are standing up in numbers like never before. And I hear from them about how excited they are to be in an army of young, out, proud activists. And the web is what is making it happen.
How does this affect my continuing work and the work of BlogACTIVE? It energizes me. While self-loathing gays like Andrew Sullivan whine about my work, the next generation of our community embraces this site's work wholeheartedly. I've talked to dozens of people here about the site. With one exception, every person thinks the mission of this site is important. I couldn't resist asking the one detractor his age. Is it a surprise when someone in their fifties opposes my work? More important, do I really care? I've always cared more about tomorrow's generation than today's, so I have to honestly answer, "no."
The amount of pride I have for Kyle, the other Equality Riders and every one of the young people at this conference is indescribable.
Make no mistake about it, we are in a war... Luckily, our side is armed with the best damned young activists on the planet. Despite our losses, many of which are tragic, we will win this war.
I have seen the future. It's in Connecticut and it's in Mississippi. And it looks awesome!
By: Michael Rogers
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