Queers, This Vitriol is for You

I realized last night one of the things that both angers me the most and breaks my heart the most about the whole Prop 8 thing. If we lose, a large reason is going to be apathy. Selfish, lazy, sad apathy.

Last night what happened was that I was confirming shifts with people who signed up to volunteer on election day. These were not cold calls. These were people who willingly gave their names and information, and said, "Yes, I care. I want to help." Doing the confirmations, mostly I just left messages (because people aren't prone to pick up when they see a crazy out-of-state number calling them), confirmed two people, and had two people back out. Those two people who backed out infuriated me more than all the people I talked to during the regular phone banking who said they were going to vote yes. At least the yes voters are honest, and are willing to stand up for what they believe in.

I sat there listening to their piss poor, obviously-fake excuses, their voices laced with apathy and flakiness, and felt my blood pressure skyrocketing. Really, considering all the work, time and money that so many other have put into this, one two hour training session, plus one three hour shift doesn't seem like a whole lot. Five hours of effort in exchange for equality and the civil protections that straight people take for granted...seems like a good deal to me.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to fully recognize the apathy that plagues us. For months now I've been face to face with people--members of the queer community and straight allies alike--who just couldn't be bothered to take the time to volunteer, spread the word, or exhibit anything more than a brief passing interest in this election. Give a few hours to phone bank. Donate the cost of your lattes for the week. Do something. Do anything. Please, give a shit.

It's the members of the queer community that get to me the most. This is YOUR life! These are YOUR rights! When proponents of Prop 8 are supporting the marriage ban, it is YOU they are talking about. They are saying that YOU are lesser, are morally wrong, are disgusting, are sinful, are repugnant, are diseased. YOU. It's pathetic how many times I've personally asked people, my friends and fellow queers to take an evening and phone bank, and watched them squirm as they stammer out their shitty excuses.

You can't be bothered to care about this? You can't be bothered to care that in areas that have passed anti-equality measures, it didn't just stop there--that the general climate for the minority group became significantly more negative overall? You don't care that if this passes, it will justify and legitimize discrimination? Really? Then fuck you, you deserve to be discriminated against. The rest of us, however, do not deserve to suffer at the hands of your selfish apathy.

If we lose this thing, I hope all those apathetic, lazy, selfish people take a moment on November 5th and realize that it's their fault. We will have lost because they couldn't be bothered to get off their asses, take a night off from clubbing, DVR Grey's Anatomy, and do something more than make a face at Prop 8. We will have lost because they told the world it was OK to treat us like shit.

It may sound harsh, but it's absolutely true. Studies have shown that the majority of people who are planning to vote yes are more passionate and more active than the majority of people who are planning to vote no. If we lose, it won't be because of numbers, it will be because of apathy. That's just fucking tragic.