This phrase, or something very like it, has been heard throughout recorded history by groups of people seeking equal rights in their society. It has been heard by the young and the old, by men and women (we STILL NEED the E.R.A.), by the religious and the non-religious, and by people of all skin colors and ethnic backgrounds.

... and now it is being heard by our GLBT brothers and sisters.

The people who say that "now is not the right time" to any group pushing for equal rights have varied reasons for saying it, each with its own fallacy. Some honestly believe that there will be a better time to push for rights in the near future (the keep-your-powder-dry group). The problem with that line of thinking is that "the right time" never comes. There is always a new crisis, or a new reason not act. It is a never ending list.

Others are afraid of the change (the don't-rock-the-boat group). Of course, avoiding change is impossible (my cheese is always being moved, dammit!). It comes whether we want it to or not. If people work to help bring about change, it can frequently be done in a better way than if change is resisted, and pressure builds up to a breaking point. History has shown us that time and time again.

Then there are the people who do not want equal rights to come about. This group falls into at least two categories. The ones who feel that the aggrieved group does not deserve equal rights for some reason, and the "I am comfortable with the rights that I have, and VERY comfortable with your lack of same" group. The less said about this kind of "thinking", the better.

Finally, there are the people who resist equal rights for any given group because they feel that the group demanding rights embarrasses their (fill in the blank: family, party, church, whatever). Whether they put it so bluntly or not, this is the "get-to-to-the-back-of-the-bus, or better yet, go away and stop embarrassing us" group of people. I would hope that there are none of these people in the Democratic party, because a core principle of our party has always been to speak up for the weak, oppressed and downtrodden, not to shut them up or drive them away.

In fact, there was a very determined group of men and women who thought that they were not getting equal rights, and wanted to take action to achieve equality. They, too, were told "don't rock the boat, don't make waves, now is not the right time", but they didn't listen. They didn't listen to the naysayers, because they were boat-rockers, and they firmly believed in their cause. They thought that if a person or group wanted to try to bring about a change, they should work for it in any way that person or group sees fit. Brought to the present, I am sure that they would have heartily approved of the people who worked to get African Americans the right to vote, and women the right to vote, and the folks who rocked the boat and pushed for equal rights in the fifties and sixties.

... and these men and women wrote a document that starts with:




We the people of the United states...






We, the people. That means you. And me. And your straight father. And your gay uncle. And that man in the wheelchair. And the woman you work with.

It means all of us as Americans, not just some privileged few. It means that if you want to push for equal rights, you should, in any constitutional way you see fit.

Because there will never be a "safe", or less embarrassing, or more convenient time to do it.




... and because of all of these reasons,





Now is always the right time.