As a young Gay man there is one thing that deeply troubled me through out my academic career. Often in classes we learned about civil rights heroes of previous movements around the world. We learned about such very important names like Martin Luther King, Jr., Elizabeth Stanton, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Betty Friedan, and so on. These leaders and human rights activists serve as a beacon of hope not just for their communities, but for all of us. In particular, these men and women of strength and amazing courage helped to set examples we all would like to emulate for the great things they achieved. As you can note, however, young LGBT people like myself for the most part did not have the privelage to read about important LGBT people in our history nor the immense contributions they made to their societies. Our history as a people and what people within our community have achieved is important to know as a source of empowerment, knowledge, and hope that despite everything still going on that we can be successful on our own terms. Thus, young LGBT people today are still largely robbed of our history and reference points with which to have a better understanding of what and how we have contributed to this world. Follow me below the fold for further elaboration.
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