I expect simple behaviours here. Friendship, and love. Any advice should be from the perspective of the person asking, not the person giving! We have had to make new membership moderated to combat the huge number of spammers who register
Location: US/Canada
Registered: September 2009
Messages: 733
This weekend I attended the final 2 days of a Washington D. C. institution as it opened its doors for the last time after 35 years. Lambda Rising Books & Gifts was so much more than just a place to pickup a magazine, rainbow accessory, or a book by a favorite LGBT author. No, it was a community center, a destination, a place where information, ideas, and activism was carried out.
But if you're interested just head for to my blog for the obit, I am not going to rehash it here because my purpose in penning this bit is a realisation that the torch really has been passed to a new generation. A generation that hopes for the day when a venue like Lambda will only be a footnote in history as being LGBT will not be any different that say the colour of one's hair or what music a person likes.
The majority of persons who post here are over 40, many married, and all benefiting from the activism during our own youth, whether or not one may have participated, that has led to the possibility that a place such as this even can exist. Our time on the stage is drawing to an end. There is a new call to arms. A new sense of purpose that needs to be embraced. The message of Harvey Milk, Frank Kamney, Cleave Jones, and all of those upon whose shoulders we stand has been brought forward and modernised by a group of young men and women who will take the fight for equality and within their lifetimes will make it reality.
I address therefore the young folks here. The posters, the lurkers, the certain and the questioning. You can profit from the oldster's past here beings that the measure of learning is truly is that ageless adage of what once was can set the examples by which one can learn from.
I also though strongly urge you to push forward, to make a difference, to make those changes that will mean that future generations will look back at this time, this place, and wonder what all the fuss was really about.
Here's an example for all of you: STONEWALL: PROFILES OF PRIDE- A Generation Y Gay. A young, gay activist proves what ordinary people can do during extraordinary times
Heath Tucker had never even been to a protest rally, but when Prop 8 passed, he answered the call to action and never looked back. With the help of Facebook, Tucker and four friends put together a rally in New York that drew over 10,000 people and featured speakers as diverse as NYC Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and actors Daniela Sea and Heather Matarazzo. Tucker and other Generation Y activists are taking the fight for gay rights to the next level. The veterans of Stonewall would be proud.
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13802
To those who read the forum without either wishing to participate or feeling able to participate, I do not want you to feel like second class citizens. This forum is as much for you as for those who create the content.
As an old fart I can say clearly that I am grateful to those who have gone before me. I was afraid to campaign as a young man. Now I have reached old fartness I feel able and happy to campaign. And so it may be with you.
We each do what we can, when we can. A letter to an elected representative is good, presence at a protest is good, a blog is good, twitter and facebook are good. And so is simple and gentle conversation showing that you, too, are human and have rights.
Only feel pressured to do something and do what you can. You may be surprised at how much you can do.
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This Post Is NOT Directed @ The Oldsters, But @ The Youth 
