note: I published this in the comments section of a previous diary, and am cross-posting my comment here, by request.
It is very important for the future of LGBT rights, that we utilize our anger over Proposition 8's passage constructively. We will need to solicit the help of all progressives- Latinos, African-Americans, caucasians, men and women, gay and straight. It is self-defeating to assign the blame for Prop 8 to anyone but OURSELVES. Ultimately, we as LBGT's have to take responsibility for our own movement.
I am a lesbian, living in California. With any civil rights struggle, there are always setbacks. But when these setbacks happen, we have two choices. One is to keep a cool head and heart, and commit ourselves to doing that which is necessary to succeed in the long run. The other is to go ballistic and become filled with justifiable and cancerous anger, and lash out. The former will produce, imo, the results for which we are striving.
I am thrilled with the fact that Obama is President, (even though I supported Hillary Clinton originally). All gays and lesbians should rejoice that Obama won. We are far better off now (although because of Prop 8, it can be difficult to feel that way). Obama had to do what he had to do, in order to WIN. If that meant reaching out to churches that do not understand gay orientation, than so be it. Bill Clinton did the same thing. Obama could not have achieved a thing had he not won.
I remember the 92 election like it was yesterday. Gays and Lesbians FINALLY felt like we had a president who would listen to our concerns and move towards giving us equal rights. Unfortunately, Bill Clinton was cornered by us immediately, and we asked him to immediately lift the ban on gays in the military, which, in my opinion, was partially the cause of the rise of "CLINTON HATE" and contributed greatly to the growing popularity of AM Conservative Radio talk shows. We would have been better off to handle this situation more strategically, by giving Bill Clinton a chance to settle in, before we demanded that he lift the ban.
Obama needs to handle himself strategically during the first 100 days as well. He needs to focus on the economy (which ultimately affects lgbts as much as marriage rights). We as LGBT's can provide Obama, through the grassroots, the information he needs to successfully address our issues.
I was impressed with how Obama attempted to reach out to the African- American community and discuss homophobia with them. Gays and Lesbians now have an ally in the Whitehouse for the first time in 8 years. I believe in my heart that Obama will come through for us in the end.
And to my fellow lgbts: Lets not blame others for our loss of rights. Lets blame ourselves for not doing an adequate job of educating voters on the subject. Lets blame ourselves for not asking for the help of more African American church leaders who are sympathetic to our causes. We need to take responsibilty for our loss. And we need to work twice as hard to reverse this new draconian law: proposition 8. We also need to make remember to keep our movement "reality based." Overall, public opinion is not on our side on gay marriage yet, and we need to EDUCATE people rather than try to PUNISH them for not supporting us. We need to also remember to work for incremental change in pragmatic ways (such as working to overturn the ban in California) rather than trying to bring unrealistic change (Such as DEMANDING that Obama goes on TV shaming everyone that voted for Prop 8).
We, as lgbts, have to take responsibilty for our own movement. Its only through our continued committment and hard work that we will overcome. Others will help us along the way, but the burden of responsibility falls squarely on our own collective laps. And I believe we can do it. Nothing good comes without a struggle.