LGBT Activists

                They say that change is happening. They say that laws are becoming more inclusive; that more and more political parties are using anti-homophobia as part of their platforms. But for the young child sitting at home, struggling with his sexuality and hearing the student’s from school chanting “homo” into his head, this isn’t enough. But if that child turns on his television and sees a person, an ordinary person, gay, like himself, speaking through the television as if directly to that young boy and tells him that that person (he or she or somewhere in between) is fighting for him; that someone just like him is making a difference in ensuring that young people struggling with their sexuality all over the world don’t have to be frightened anymore, then that starts something. Something is implanted in that boy’s mind and the mind of others watching the same thing, and that something is a little like hope and a little like courage and that boy, who might’ve otherwise overdosed on painkillers one day and never woken up, becomes a politician or a journalist or a lawyer to support the LGBT cause. Because activists don’t create change; activists create other activists who all work together to make an obstacle move.

            More than anything, The Laramie Project, showed us just how much work is still left to do for LGBT people to gain equality. Since Laramie is such a small town, what it really lacks is exposure. Without exposure to all kinds of people no new ideas can be created and the practices and mindsets that have been present for many years will continue to stamp out any small sparks lit in their path. So this is when the leaders become useful; people who are already in a position of power or in the public eye who can change people’s definition of normal. When people see celebrities they admire like Ellen Degeneres, Darren Criss, Daniel Radcliffe, Pink - some gay, some not - supporting gay rights, it makes them reevaluate their stances, if only just a little bit, and helps break down the barrier between the straight Us and the gay Them.

            “Celebrity” activists also help by bringing wider media coverage to certain problems. A good example of this is Lady Gaga with the DADT policy, that she brought worldwide attention to by bringing fired soldiers as her guests to the Grammy awards. The amount of people who watch the Grammys is significantly higher than the amount of people who follow the politics of the US army, and because of her small action she got almost all major newspapers and television stations talking about the policy. With her publicity, she was able to get people to focus their energy on a specific way to make change.

This is exactly what Harvey Milk was doing for the entire country when he encouraged supporters not to move to San Francisico so they could vote for him but to go back to their own oppressive towns, “to go back to San Antonio and fight.” He made fans into activists just by giving them a little inspiration and a little direction.

So yes, change is happening, but with the work of the activists, the people saying it aren’t a faceless “they” any longer. “They” have different skin colours, and different hair colours, and backgrounds and families and lives. “They” are Ellen Degeneres, Harvey Milk, your favourite singer who made a video for the Trevor project, and that kid in your class who did a presentation for Homophobia Awareness Day. “They” aren’t stopping the problems themselves but providing the inspiration and the pathways for everyone to do so. And they are giving scared people everywhere the idea that things will change because in Harvey Milk’s words “You’ve got to give them hope.”