That's the conclusion of this article from The Advocate.
Young people, some barely in their teens, are becoming the gay rights movement's newest ambassadors at statehouses from Olympia, Wash., to Montpelier, Vt. Their advocacy, unheard of as recently as a decade ago, reflects the slowly growing acceptance that is emboldening gays and lesbians to come out of the closet while they are coming of age.
Veteran activists credit the political participation of gay youths, their straight friends, and children of same-sex parents with a string of recent legislative victories, including last month's passage of an anti-bullying bill that provides specific protections for gay and lesbian students in Iowa.
One of the greatest challenges of being a young man or woman is figuring out what you believe in. Of course, a person is going to be much more effective with that if they understand and accept who they truly are. After all, can we really be effective advocates for any issue if we don't believe in ourselves?
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I can attest to this trend. Here in New Mexico, just one year has changed a lot. Last year, they introduced a domestic partnership bill in the legislature. It passed one committee and died. This year, it came very close to passing into law after passing through 3 committees and then passing through the House! Not bad. We expect to pass it next year. Grass roots lobbying by regular citizens is making a difference and more and more young people are getting fired up and using this as an outlet. It makes a 40ish activist proud. Smile.
ReplyDeleteSharone