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I think almost anyone engaged in any kind of activism, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or otherwise agrees that the first "fight" to be won is visibility. "The fight to have a fight" so to speak. If a movement is ignored, as you say, there is no impetuous for change. The actions of VirPed, B4U-Act and other groups in promoting "MAP" as a term have gotten us a long way. Many pundits are saying "pedophilia is going to be normalized soon". They say it in a tone of fear, yet that message is a message of hope for us. It attracts attention to the idea of normalization. However, attracting attention itself cannot be enough. There needs to be something of value waiting for once attention is attracted. As you say, stage 2 is the fight to be heard. Once that comes we better be damned sure that we have things worth saying with a solid foundation behind them. That's where BLR's research and essays come in. To ensure that there is some kind of position, broadly speaking, that members of the community share so that when it comes time to raise our voices that we are singing from the same song sheet. We don't need total harmony, of course. The civil rights movement had both MLK and Malcolm X. Gay activists had those that wanted to assimilate through institutions like gay marriage and those that opposed becoming "stepford gays". Yet without some degree of union in message we'll be scattered to the winds and our voices lost. That's why I hope we can stop infighting and squabbling and start working together. Beyond just BC into many other MAP spaces all across the web. United we can make a stand- include GLs and there are more of us than there are adult-attracted gays. |