We Actually NEED to Keep Hope Alive

After reading several articles and blog posts on LGBT issues, I realized that there's a reason why many people are frustrated. Judging by the tone of these posts and articles, there’s no hope!

The LGBT community is doomed, done, lost, OVAH! According to many posts, we should never trust the government, everybody’s out to get us and our civil rights are gone with the wind.

However, I want us to take a minute and just let all of that dismal thinking go. Read the posts closely and look at how they take the story.

See here:

Well, if that happens, we can kiss the repeal of DADT goodbye. Because next year, it's being predicted that we will no longer control the House. And if that happens, not a single pro-gay piece of legislation will pass this congress for years to come.

If you break it down, John is getting fired up over something that hasn’t happened! This is an idea, a prediction. It’s like he's looking for a fight. And he’s not alone, there are others who are serving us hot water and calling it soup.

We should not get overly caught up about many of these matters. For the first time in history, we are getting many initiatives in place; we are seeing movement in issues like DADT, ENDA and marriage that we haven’t seen before. So why are we doubting everything? Why are these bloggers painting the future in despair?

We can’t continue living in fear from predictions or fever dreams. Remember, one of the key pieces in the Civil Rights movement was hope. They stuck with it and kept moving. They had no time for silly rants or overdramatic fallouts. They actually, kept hope alive and we have to do the same thing. We need to believe and trust in the system. It’s going to take time, that’s just the honest truth. We have to remain strong and look for the silver lining. But if we fall victim to these negative tones, half-truths and teabaggery, we will lose this battle.