I'm really not surprised at all. We're busier than we've been in months, but not Holiday Season busy, not by a long shot. For instance, we had a new J.K. Rowling book released today; months ago, when we first heard that this book was going to be released during the Holiday season, we were all bemoaning the fact that they were releasing it right in the midst of the Holiday rush, when we were going to be busy enough as it was. Well, we needn't have worried.
We sold plenty of copies of the book today, but we were no more busy than yesterday. Granted, it's not a Harry Potter book and we weren't doing special midnight release parties or anything like that, but I think it still says a lot about the state of the economy this year. Things are really bad.
On another topic, The Advocate has a really interesting interview with openly gay Congressman Barney Frank. The following part really caught my attention:
“Once we get out of Iraq, we’ll get rid of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ ” he tells me. “There’s not going to be that much of a fight over that—people are over it. Plus it’s hard to argue today that 20-year-olds freak out at the sight of a gay guy. We will also get hate-crimes legislation with transgender included, and we will get employment nondiscrimination with transgender included -- if transgender people keep working for it and lobbying for it. Many people assumed that Nancy Pelosi and I could just deliver that, but that’s not how it works. I think they understand now that they have to go to each congressperson and make the case.”
When the conversation turns to gay marriage, Frank says he is “cautiously optimistic” about Proposition 8 being defeated in California. “I just wish more time had passed since it was legalized and this election,” he says. “With discrimination, the fear always outweighs the reality of it. You just hope there’s enough time to show everyone that everything is fine, that gay marriage has no impact on heterosexual marriage.”
Proposition 8 ended up passing, of course, prompting protests across the country. “It’s great that people feel passionate about this,” he says 10 days after the election, when I ask whether the upswing in gay activism pleased him, “but do you really think a rally on the Boston Common does one thing to change anything? I would prefer people channeled that energy -- whether it’s for marriage equality or employment nondiscrimination -- into mobilizing and trying to persuade those who disagree with them. Notice that the NRA never marches. This is my continual debate with people in the gay community, many of whom want to hold rallies instead of doing political lobbying.”
I have to disagree with the Congressman that the rallies don't change anything. I think they send a powerful message, for one thing, and make people realize that we're not going to just take discrimination meekly, that we'll fight for our rights, that we have a lot of allies willing to fight with us.
I do agree that just going to rallies isn't enough, though, that you have to make yourself heard through speaking out, contacting those who represent you in Congress, boycotting businesses whose CEO's donated money to help Prop 8 pass, and in countless other ways. Rallies are important, but they do need to be tied in with other forms of activism, including lobbying and getting involved in the political process.
As for Don't Ask Don't Tell, the 'as soon as we get out of Iraq' part of Frank's quote troubles me. It needs to be changed as soon as the new Congress and President are in office, especially since we don't really know how long it's going to be until we're out of Iraq.
Read the full interview if you have the time. Frank is a really interesting guy.
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