Thanks for posting the Dan Savage video.  It brings up a memory about the time I met Dan Savage some years back when I brought him to my college campus to give a presentation.  This was back in the day when his advice column in The Stranger was known as "Hey Faggot"  as opposed to the more acceptable "Savage Love" that allowed him to become more syndicated.  As I was writing a response, I realized that it was getting a rather long and that it was probably better to just turn it into a blog. 

But a few thoughts.  Towards the end of the video, Dan says "...bigots don't win." I would say that given the developments recently, from Tea Party candidates to the Family Values Summit to a nast email coming from the office of a Senator has me not quite so optimistic.  As Rachel Maddow said on her show a few nights ago, the culture wars are back.  So it is good to hear someone say "Don't Panic."  Because I am panicking.

And maybe to the stir the pot a bit here, but for all those who say they will be staying home on election day because there is no difference between a D and a R, I would say this:  that no matter how much similiarity there is between most of the Ds and the Rs, the Rs politically are tied to those on the cultural wing who push the hate and bile.  It is this hate and bile that supports and enflames the hatred that the GLBT community experiences, that maintains the oppressive and violent enviroment that those who are young and GLBT experience on an almost daily basis in their schools.

No, we shouldn't panic.  Things do get better.  But things do get better because we refuse to let the other side to win.  We stand up to them and say that their views, their way is not the way of free and compassionate nation.  And one place we do that standing up is in the voting booth.