I would like to let all ya'll wonderful breeder allies in on a little secret. Gay marriage remains, largely, the concern of upper middle class white homosexuals. The rights and responsibilities inherent in marriage are important but there are other problems our community faces. I know straight Kossacks are each some of the strongest allies we could ever hope for...but its my hope that by dropping a little knowledge on ya'll you can act as better and even more effective allies.
(Note: In this post I use queer to refer to all persons of minority sexuality and gender presentation. Gays and lesbians are only a part of this group)
Transgendered persons oftentimes face outright hostility and violence in their everyday lives. This is not a national issue, but it should be. AIDS service organizations must struggle daily to make ends meet. This is not a national issue, but it should be. Every day children are forced out onto the street by homophobic parents and oftentimes must turn to dangerous and unprotected sex work just to feed themselves. This is not a national issue, but it should be. Racial minorities within the queer community face a double bigotry. Not only are there definite currents of racism within queer culture, but also the issues mentioned above disproportionately affect them. Groups such as the Human Rights Campaign serve their donor constituency (white, upper middle class gays and lesbians) so looking to them for effective engagement on these issues is often a lost cause.
So, by all means, write or call your Senator on the marriage issue. But don't stop there. Queer youth of all colors are in dire need of support. Groups such as the Whitman Walker Clinic and Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (S.M.Y.A.L) in DC need your help and your dollars. Take up the fight against sex education that ignores or is outright hostile toward queer adolescents. If your heart and house are big enough, consider opening both up to a queer teenager trying to survive after being abandoned by his blood relations. The struggle for queer liberation is much more complex then the struggle for marriage equity. I'm glad to have you with us.
Some websites to get you started...
http://www.nyacyouth.org/
http://www.smyal.org/
http://www.wwc.org/