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Home  Community Voices Young, Gay, and Apathetic
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Young, Gay, and Apathetic |
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Written by Matthew Ramos
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Friday, 28 November 2008 |
Tuesday night was a depressing one for me and all the other volunteers
and staff of the No on Prop 8 campaign who have worked diligently the
past four months to protect equality.
With only 400,000 votes between both positions and three million absentee ballots waiting to be counted, I found myself questioning whether I did enough to stop this unfair proposition. However, the more predominant thought in my mind was the disappointment I felt in young gay society for not being more involved in the campaign.
I am a 21-year-old college student at California State University of Fullerton and full time employee of New York Life. Living as a young gay male in Los Angeles is difficult. The ‘scene,’ as it is often referred, is a huge part of the gay culture. It dictates the popular trends of gay society. One fad that apparently is not fashionable in the scene is activism, even if for a cause directly affecting them.
Every Saturday night as I stood on the corner of heavily gay populated Santa Monica Boulevard, I would walk up to complete strangers with script in hand asking them to volunteer with the campaign and/or donate money. Some would stop and listen to me plead my case, but more often people would see the ‘No on 8’ sticker on my shirt and completely ignore me as they hurried off to their destination. Some would stop, listen and act interested in the cause, but when it came down to asking them to get involved in the campaign there was always an excuse. Although we had volunteer shifts everyday, morning, noon and night, they always seemed to be busy. Asking for donations was pointless at times. Scensters would rather buy an over-priced drink at a trendy bar then donate to a cause.
I asked all my gay friends to volunteer. Some of them volunteered one shift, some two, but none of them were very committed. The time they did spend volunteering was out of pity for me, not support for the cause. When I asked them to volunteer again they always found something better to fill their Saturday nights. I would log onto my MySpace and Facebook account to find their pages filled with No on Prop 8 propaganda. If you did not know them personally, you would think they were fervent activists against Prop 8. They were crusaders in their own minds, believing that by posting a bulletin or joining an Internet group fulfilled their responsibilities. The truth was quite the opposite.
November 4 was especially hard and truly demonstrated the ignorance of the gay scene. The day began with a 4AM wake-up call followed by countless hours of organizing volunteers at polling places, negotiating with poll workers on where we could solicit, handing palm cards to supporters and getting heckled by detractors. The last hour was spent knocking on doors in neighborhoods located around polling places, urging residents to vote.
After 14 hours of working the polls, I and some other volunteers along with No on 8 staff headed to the No on 8 celebration party at the Henry Fonda Theater only to find a line wrapping around the block. These people, who failed to volunteer even for just an hour, filled the theater to capacity making it impossible for volunteers and staff of the campaign to join the party. The young gay crowd wanted to celebrate an unconfirmed victory they had not worked for. It reminded me of Christmas when all the dedicated parishioners stand in the back during mass because all the seasonal parishioners take up the front pews. It was a total shock to see many of the same people that had ignored me when I asked them to volunteer standing in line to celebrate with us.
Last night there was a huge rally in West Hollywood protesting the results. Every five minutes or so, I would receive a text message from one of my friends urging me to go; a text they clearly copy and pasted to their entire phone book. Friends that had turned their backs on me right before election day suddenly had an interest in the struggle when the results did not turn out in their favor. I felt like asking them, “Where were you the last five months?”
I believe the influx of support will be short lived. The rally was created by the scene and fads that are popular in the scene this week will be forgotten the next. The rally is a high profile social event that is too little too late.
Do I believe that Prop 8 should be overturned? Of course! But more importantly I believe the young gay community should have taken a bigger stance on the issue before the election.
To all those who failed to volunteer before but have decided to join the fight, we accept you as a comrade. The fight is far from over, so I hope your dedication stays true. The fight for equality has never been an easy one.
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