(no subject)
Politics is war by other means.
Americans fought a war to win their freedom once. Just 70 years later, they fought another war to win the freedom of the black population in the country. For another 100 years, that black population kowtowed and scraped and begged for its rights. it finally had enough, and within just 15 more years destroyed the petit apartheid which had kept it under the racist thumb.
Now gay people in California face a choice: Will they fight for their freedom, or not? Will they whine and scrape and beg before the courts, whimpering for mercy from Heterosexual Master? "Please, please, please give us our rights, master. They are not inalienable. They do not belong to us. They are yours, free to bestow on us. Please, please Master Heterosexual, in your mercy, give us a tiny, broken, small, miniscule bit of our freedom." Or perhaps they will allow the Marxian "tide of history" to somehow enlighten their fellow citizens? As environmentalists fight and claw for the public to protect the environment, as progressives and liberals fight and claw to elect politicians who share their values, as feminists fight and claw for greater protection for women's rights, as African Americans and Latinos and Asian Americans fight and claw for decency, respect, and an end to racism and discrimination -- perhaps gay Californians hope they, like the detritus in a strong tide, will get pulled and dragged along and somehow, maybe, possibly find that their rights were given to them by happenstance and chance along the way. "We'll fight that battle when we have the support of our fellow citizens. When we are assured of winning, then we will fight."
Or, just maybe, gay Californians will fight for their rights now. Today. Like Americans 235 years ago, perhaps they will fight behind every rock, every tree, every hill in the ground and take on the monlithic empire which refuses to acknowledge their inalienable right to freedom. Perhaps they will seize ground, terrorize their enemy, show no quarter, leave no earth unscorched, and build their forces until they are impossible to overwhelm. Perhaps they will wage war by other means, and wage it as fiercely, as ruthlessly, as powerfully, as menacingly, as unconditionally as war must be waged.
Which path are gay Californians choosing today?
What path will they choose in the future?
Americans fought a war to win their freedom once. Just 70 years later, they fought another war to win the freedom of the black population in the country. For another 100 years, that black population kowtowed and scraped and begged for its rights. it finally had enough, and within just 15 more years destroyed the petit apartheid which had kept it under the racist thumb.
Now gay people in California face a choice: Will they fight for their freedom, or not? Will they whine and scrape and beg before the courts, whimpering for mercy from Heterosexual Master? "Please, please, please give us our rights, master. They are not inalienable. They do not belong to us. They are yours, free to bestow on us. Please, please Master Heterosexual, in your mercy, give us a tiny, broken, small, miniscule bit of our freedom." Or perhaps they will allow the Marxian "tide of history" to somehow enlighten their fellow citizens? As environmentalists fight and claw for the public to protect the environment, as progressives and liberals fight and claw to elect politicians who share their values, as feminists fight and claw for greater protection for women's rights, as African Americans and Latinos and Asian Americans fight and claw for decency, respect, and an end to racism and discrimination -- perhaps gay Californians hope they, like the detritus in a strong tide, will get pulled and dragged along and somehow, maybe, possibly find that their rights were given to them by happenstance and chance along the way. "We'll fight that battle when we have the support of our fellow citizens. When we are assured of winning, then we will fight."
Or, just maybe, gay Californians will fight for their rights now. Today. Like Americans 235 years ago, perhaps they will fight behind every rock, every tree, every hill in the ground and take on the monlithic empire which refuses to acknowledge their inalienable right to freedom. Perhaps they will seize ground, terrorize their enemy, show no quarter, leave no earth unscorched, and build their forces until they are impossible to overwhelm. Perhaps they will wage war by other means, and wage it as fiercely, as ruthlessly, as powerfully, as menacingly, as unconditionally as war must be waged.
Which path are gay Californians choosing today?
What path will they choose in the future?