The face of our movement

Slavery abolition had Frederick Douglass. Black civil rights had Martin Luther King. Women's rights had Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. Gay rights have … ? (Before you say Harvey Milk, he was not a national figure when he was shot.) Some historians think the average American doesn't empathize with us because there is no nationally known gay face.

Perhaps we don't need a national leader.

First, our defining difference is sex and many don't see that as a moral issue (on the contrary…). Second, for a good long time we haven't had a national issue we could take to the courts, the primary route for black and women's rights. Third, AIDS decimated a generation of leaders. Fourth, we have made a great deal of progress at the local and state level.