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put forth. I agree the younger generations are much better on human equality, gay inclusive. What is missing is the reasons why that is. Some say computers, and that does help. But gee, who put the content onto the computers that leads to young folks becoming more open minded?
The Advocate author says "LGBT Gen-Xers expected that we (I'm an Xer) could be mostly visible without fearing life, limb, and job loss..." as if that was some form of natural state, part of the rich hearty goodness of his generation, when the fact is they felt safe to be more out because of all the work other generations had done before them. They did not just magically 'expect' they could live more openly, they were taught to expect more by their more courageous elders, who had blazed the way. The author smugly generalizes that former generations reamined closeted. The following ones magically evolved. People like Harvey Milk never existed. The long list of writers, actors, musicians and viz artists that were the brave 'first outs' were all Boomers or older. McKellen to Ellen, no kids in sight. I just last night watched Adam Lambert, 27, hem and haw about 'if' he's gay. In 2009, while being Adam Lambert, internet boy kisser. Not exactly Sir Ian taking the plunge. He did not seem to be swathed in bold expectations to me. All the fuss over the Idol show and the man is not even officially out yet. He did Idol from the closet. Folks assuming does not count, living openly counts. Lambert, thus far, is not out, while dozens of his 'elders' are miles from the closest closet.
My point is not to diminish the younger generations, but to point out that there is a process, a history, a chain. "Xers" did not pop out better, they grew up being shown examples of freedom, with acess to film and literature with gay characters and themes. All of these things were made for them by those who lived before them, not just boomers, even older people than that, if such a thing can be imagined.
The AIDS crisis times took many of our wise minds too early. This made an actual generation gap. A lower population among some age groups. So of course the 'boomers' had organized all of that, lived through threats of quarantine camps, a disease with no known cause, no Insurance covering it, no charities in place to serve those in need, and a public awareness of gay issues that was almost purely hostile.
All of the 'expectations' of the Xers are in fact gifts they were given, out of love and hope, by their elders. I'm the age of the President, and I've been out since I was 19. Because I'd known so many out people already and because of Harvey and Briggs and all of that. Everything I learned and all of my courage to live openly came from older people, many of them no longer with us. People from the 'beatnik' generation. Burroughs and Ginsberg to name a couple who were at it when I was but a baby. The way I lived as a young man was only possible because of what those before me had done, and what older people were still doing as I came up.
You see, my Grand Pa came from Ireland on a slow uncomfortable boat, while I have made many Atlantic crossings in a matter of hours on comfy jets. This is not because my generation is smarter, it is because Grand Pa's generation built aviation and designed jetliners.
The younger generations are more accepting and more accepted because of much hard work by generations who went before. There is much more wisdom, in my view, in seeing the ladder of history we are all climbing, as opposed to each generation making the crazed assumption that they built the first ladder, and took the first steps.
It is always easier to be the generation to dwell in a new city than to be the generation that founds and builds a new city. We need the combined energies and points of view of all generations to achieve what we must, which is to make it even better for those even younger, for those yet to be born. That is why we must insist on change, and never stop insisting, no matter. Not for us, for the next crew.
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