Queers and Allies Activate!

So I usually joke that people who quote themselves are pretentious, but I wrote such a sweet Facebook status today that I couldn't resist! =)

"Just like equality only some of the time isn't good enough. Activism only some of the time isn't good enough. We can't wait until these monumental decisions come about to get involved. We have to start earlier. Because if everyone waited, there wouldn't be any monumental decisions to rally around." ~ Vu Tran

As some of you may know, the honorable Judge Phillips of the FEDERAL District Court for the Central District of California issued an injunction on the anti-gay Don't Ask Don't Tell policy (more commentary on that one tomorrow). Kudos madam! And almost immediately after the ruling, the tweets and Facebook statuses erupted in warranted celebration. Yay, another win for the queer community!

But my question is, where was all this enthusiasm for the past 17 years since the policy was implemented? I remember dancing on the Connecticut capitol building's steps when same-sex marriage was passed in this state, along with many other elated supporters. I wonder how many of those supporters were active in the movement to get same-sex marriage.

The point is that we can't just come out to celebrate when good things happen. We have to be proactive in making those good things happen. If we can do that, there will be a whole lot more celebratory dancing...but next time it will be on the steps of United States Congress.