In which she rants some more!

>>> Three Dollar Bill <<<
Do you accept queers like me? Or do you verbally or mentally append ifs and unlesses to the end of your declaration of “not minding” people who happen to love or live differently than yourself? Are femme lesbians kissing in public A-OK but two men holding hands or a pair of butch lesbians a vulgar display? Do you find it somehow difficult to drop or add A SINGLE LETTER to a person’s pronouns as they transition to the gender they identify with? Is the configuration of the area between one’s legs the true definition of gender in your mind? And what is “straight-acting” to you, anyway? She, he, we… we’re all tired of conditional acceptance. When our friends seem to have forgotten what one or more letters in LGBT stand for, they don’t stand for anything at all.

>>> Tradition <<<
I want a world where I don’t see the beautiful word of “family” being used in organization names as another way announcing a horrid reality-denying agenda dead-set on maintaining an oppressive status quo. If you love me as much as you claim, you will forgive me for preferring to spend a lifetime with the person I love rather than the type of mate society has prescribed to me since birth. You WILL NOT presume to change my life into something more presentable to society’s Iron Age sensibilities. Bigotry and oppression wrapped in holy garb is hate as human as any other. But you keep spouting your ill-informed hatred! The world is waking up, and you will only serve to hasten our inevitable liberation. There are no compromises. There are no half-measures. There is only a light at the end of this tunnel; the promise of a step closer to true equality for all.

>>> Make it better <<<
“It gets better.” We all know that catchy, hopeful promise given to downtrodden LGBT youth. That phrase spawned a fashion trend, a tagline, an entire new movement. Indeed, it seems to have started one of the world’s first stationary movements. Rather than be spurred toward direct action, allies and supporters of LGBT people are satisfied with a vague promise of the world mystically mending itself for the transgender girl who shows up to English class crying every Tuesday. The life-destroying constant hurt and hate will simply blink out of existence, allowing the lesbian couple constantly harassed by their classmates, or the gay boy who is constantly shouted at when he tries his best to steer clear of his male peers between classes to finally live their lives in peace. But… we all know this isn’t true. Things won’t just get better on their own.
For things to truly and permanently improve, we as young people need not promise “It gets better,” but must work on actually making it better. If you see someone crying – and I don’t CARE if they’re queer or not – extend a helping hand. If you can identify a victim of homophobia or transphobia, speak out in their defense. Your social integrity can ONLY get as bad as a diffusion of the hate shouldered by the LGBT youth who carry on day-in and day-out.  Be a guardian, someone who will be at the side of those unjustly despised, and you will be a beacon of hope for the next generation. We, as a movement, did not get where we are today through trendy shirts and cute bracelets. We had Stonewall, the White Night Riots, and the countless demonstrations brimming with a vision of a better tomorrow. Behind all progress there is action taken with a measure of risk. Will you risk a small-minded friend in order to let someone who feels completely alone know there are people out there who are willing to selflessly, directly support and defend him or her? There was always going to be a risk involved in making things better – so, are you still in?