It appears that many Queer theorists and far-leftists are having a hard time understanding the importance of repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. It affects so few LGBT people that we should be focusing our efforts on more wide-spread legislation such as ENDA (Employment NonDiscrimination Act), they say. Marriage Equality would serve to force societal change, they opine. Some even say that gays don't want to serve, anyway, so why does it matter?
It's ironic then that these same arguments are used to fight against ANY pro-gay legislation. Why should lawmakers worry about legislation that only effects less than 8% of the population when we have double digit unemployment to worry about? Wouldn't health care reform do more to advance the Democrats agenda?
We, as a community, need to understand that all of this legislation is important. Dismissing one for another is fruitless. Each is only a piece of the Equality puzzle, and none of them are the magic cure-all some seem to be hoping for.
So while it is true that only a percentage of LGBT folk serve in the military or wish to, that doesn't mean that those members of the community are any less important an valuable. Do we really want to sound like our detractors by saying that LGBT folk should just go find another career instead of doing what the love or are proud of?
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