2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Progressive Pragmatism versus Liberal Elitism [View all]Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)arresting them for being gay, colluding with the organized criminals that owned the only bars that would have us. People who are being jailed for talking to each other or for dressing 'wrong' are not thinking about marriage rights. No one was. It was not because the naive wanted marriage and others knew better. When Stonewall happened, there were literally laws against being gay, trans, bi. They jailed us. They beat us. The blackmailed us.
And marriage was not an issue for years and years to come, it was not on the mind of Harvey Milk, his largest legislative battle was against the Briggs Amendment which bluntly asked voters 'Yes or No, should we fire all the gay teachers and those who support them?'. That's what society was back then. it was not about Wedding Planning, it was about employment and not being extorted.
Then of course came the AIDS crisis in the late 80's which again placed dozens of priorities above 'marriage rights' such as the right to live past 30.
The very idea that you think Stonewall activists were parsing out strategy to attain marriage rights suggests a deep and wide lack of understanding of the history of the LGBT community, a community that is comprised of all of those letters, not just the 'married until midlife, now a Lesbian' segment, which is a fine segment but not the only one. Gay men, trans men and women, bisexual men and women all exist as well, and 'marriage rights' were not the objective until very recent years.
It is shocking, really, to see anyone look at the Era of A Thousand Funerals and claim it was all about weddings.
LGBT politics has been about employment, housing, fair policing and for the love of all that is holy it has been about health care and equal access for everyone, rich or poor, gay or straight, to the best possible education and medical treatments.
Your reductive reviews of the past leave out most of the factual history of that past.