Moreover . . .

. . . what the author doesn't say is that, because of the climate of the '50s and early '60s, pretty much nothing the gays could've done would've advanced their rights, and in fact, if they'd been doing radical shit at that time it likely would've set back them back much further. When the gays were radicalized it was a different time--late '60s and especially the '70s--when social progressivism in general was very high, and in that environment the gays were able to advance their cause as part of the liberalization of America. But we are in a much different environment now, an environment that is in a strong traditionalist/conservative mode. Add the moral panic surrounding child sexual abuse and youth "sexualization" and you can see that radicalization is the very last thing we need to be doing right now. Our time will come--there will be another social liberalization movement, perhaps right around the corner, and then the time will be ripe for us to make bold political demands. Right now we are better off making progress in small ways and making an impact in the lives of our beloved girls. Furthermore, history shows that all oppressed groups first made a cultural impact before they made a political one. We haven't even done that yet.