Why The Gay Movement Is Winning

From CBS's new poll. It confirms what we already knew - that ending the closet is the key to equality. By far the best way to do this is as an act of positive affirmation. Those gay people who prefer careerism and safety over integrity and courage have every right to do so. But I also have every right to note that they are the key obstacles to their own progress - and no closeted person has any moral standing to complain about his or her inequality. He daily constructs the architecture of his own marginalization.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the generation gap:

Eight-four percent of Americans under 30 know someone who is gay or lesbian. Older Americans are less likely to know someone who is gay or lesbian: Just 66 percent of those over 65 say they do.

Gay equality is being pioneered among the younger, braver generation. They get it. And those who stood by must live with the knowledge of their own cowardice.