We all know that Kathy Griffin loves the gay community, but if there was any question about that, it was answered on last night’s episode of My Life on the D-List. Kathy decided that in order to fulfill her quest to make it to the A-List, she needed to become an activist, and what better way to do that than to protest Prop 8? Well, we can debate that, but her heart is in the right place. In any event, there were a few segments during the episode that resonated with me, so I wanted to discuss them here. (btw, I realize the reference may be a bit dated for this audience, but this entry title and Kathy's sign are references to the 1979 movie Norma Rae starring Sally Field).

First, and perhaps least insightful of my observations (though I don’t necessarily claim that any are particularly sage), I was surprised to hear one woman with whom Kathy spoke while she was canvassing against Prop 8 say something along the lines of, “I have no problem with gay relationships. They can have unions, which gives them the same rights as marriage.” Right? WRONG. Kathy, fortunately, was armed with the famous factoid that marriage provides over 1,000 federal benefits that civil unions do not. This made me wonder, though, how many people have this sort of misinformation? And if they had the correct information, would it have changed their votes? What a lovely illustration of the need to educate the public, no?

During another segment of last night’s episode, Kathy took a group of queer youth to a protest in Sacramento, CA. At the rally, a gay couple spoke about their quandary with medical insurance. One partner had a disability that prevented him from working full-time, and thus prevented him from having medical insurance. The other partner, who worked full-time, had medical insurance, but his union would not allow his partner to be covered as it would with a married opposite-sex couple. They used this as an argument for same-sex marriage. Yes, that’s all well and good. But I don’t see it that way. I see it as a poignant illustration of the inequality of marriage as a social institution and the shortfall of our government in providing healthcare for its citizens. If the disabled partner were single, he still would not have health coverage. Marriage should not be a means of achieving equality, especially in healthcare. Single people should not be taxed more heavily or be laden with any of the other penalties one incurs for not being married. Their story not only shows how society discriminates against single people (hetero or homo), but also the pressing need for universal healthcare in the United States.

Finally, and perhaps most relevant to this blog site, throughout the show Kathy was with a group of queer youths. What struck me about this group was that when Kathy mentioned Matthew Shepard, many stared back with a blank expression. Are you kidding me?! These kids couldn’t have been much younger than I am, and they didn’t know who Matthew Shepard was?

Which brings me to my real question – are queer youths today losing touch with why the gay rights movement began and why it must continue? How many queers in their teens or twenties would know what Stonewall was? I see a lot of complacency in queer youth today, and to be quite honest, it’s upsetting. They (me included) have grown up in a relatively accepting world -- much more so than those who started the gay rights movement in 1969 anyway – and it has desensitized many to the inequalities that still exist for so much of our population. I applaud those who are involved in the queer community, but we need more. This movement has to be fueled by younger queers. The Stonewall generation started it, but it is up to us to keep it going.