Putting the Pride in Politics

Civil unions and marriage equality are moving across the country. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is in the (long, long) process of being repealed. Possible presidential candidates are ramping up their anti-LGBT rhetoric from the far right. Allies and enemies alike are energized in the fight around the rights of LGBT people.

It's a time of change. It's a time of political and social upheaval as those in power and that make our laws lag decades behind the American public as poll after poll shows greater acceptance for the basic human rights and dignity of gay people and their lives, families, and relationships. While that arc of the moral universe, as Martin Luther King Jr called it, is slowly bending inevitably towards justice, there is still much work to do. We cannot afford as a community to be apathetic or complacent about our rights. Those that fight against us are getting smaller in number, it's true, but they are getting louder and more desperate. It is a historic time for us to win or lose.

That's what this new weekly column for the GoPride family will be focusing on. I'll be looking to bring a critical eye (and sharp tongue) to issues that need to be called out in the national LGBT community. Whether attacks from our enemies or internal issues amongst our various community members, there are always discussions to be had and action to be taken.

My background is that of a political and LGBT rights activist. I was inspired to get involved in activism as a result of an eye-opening experience of anti-gay discrimination at a major US airport and haven't looked back since. I've been on both sides of the fight, as both a grassroots activist and a political consultant who ran campaigns. I'm a firm believer that we need many different voices with many different tactics to achieve full equality.

I know there is no one right way to reach our goals that we will all agree on. Only with a healthy dose of debate, discussion, impatience, action, and criticism can we get there. It takes it all to put the pride back in politics.

I hope that all of you take this column as a chance to engage in the discussion. Push back, agree, disagree, criticize: just get involved and get passionate. Let me know what you are thinking and what issues matter to you. We all have a voice and this is a forum that you can use to make it heard.

Welcome to the HomoPolitico. Get your opinions ready and join the fight!

You can follow Waymon Hudson on Twitter or on Facebook.