February 2011, Madison Wisconsin. Thousands have been protesting at the state capital over proposed changes that they disagee with. I am not going to discuss the issues at hand as they involve labor unions and with my mixed feelings about unions and admitted lack of clear knowledge of the situation just doesn't make it appropiate for me to talk further about that. But there are lessons about the protesting itself that we could all consider.
So many complain about the things that we feel are wrong in our lives but today's generations often fail to sacrifice and put action into expressing their feelings. Thousands of people in Madison Wisconsin disagree with the Governor and are doing more than most of us would do in today's society. They didn't just join a social networking group online and post their comments, they stepped away from their computers and carried their butts to the source of their disagreement. They brought it to their doorstep and demanded attention, even shut things down as many government officials there have stayed away. People are EXPRESSING their opinion in direct action, but thankfully in Madison we haven't heard of violent action. The streets of Wisconsin's state capital aren't burning, only the passions of people standing up for what they believe in.
As this is happening in the USA and more violent protest actions occurred in Egypt I hear that there is another proposal for a LGBT "March on Washington". I remember there were marches in the 1980's, 1993, 2000 and while the organizers of the 2009 gay march for equality don't consider it the same, it was a march on Washington just like the others. So the gay community likes to do this "march on Washington" thing every decade or so. And I think it is time for the (LGBT) Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community to give up the marches on Washington DC and take the marching idea to the states, counties, cities and towns. It's time to protest from the ground up.
What the LGBT community needs to do is consider NEW ideas for marching and protesting our government. These marches need to occur at a time when the government officials are AT the capital or in their chambers and offices, not on weekends as the LGBT marches have always been. These should not be social events, they should be protest events. Protest events happen during BUSINESS hours.
The way all of the gay marches on Washington have appeared to be (for me) were media events, speeches to the choir, celebrity appearances,cocktail parties and "meetups" at the local clubs and bars. But the people needing to hear the message from the community are not in the building on Saturday and Sunday. IN Wisconsin the protests have been all week DURING the business hours and have disrupted "business" in the state capital.
I am being repetitive but stressing my point. I think EVERY STATE should experience what Wisconsin is currently experiencing today. People need to converge upon their state capitals and city halls when the government officials are in the building so they can hear and see you face to face. And we should not give up until they HEAR your voice and develop a suitable resolution. And of course people should EDUCATE themselves on the issues, their political representatives and candidates to replace those who aren't giving you what you want. Then the real protest action comes in the voting booth. But there we have another problem. Todays society hasn't handled that voting thing responsibly in decades either.
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