Commitment

This may be a bit of a rant. Bear with me. Or don't, whichever.

We all have our causes. We all have things that matter to us, things we're ready to stand up and be counted for, things we'll fight for. Sometimes the cause lasts a day, or a month. Sometimes it's a lifetime. Often, it's one little battle at a time seeking a long term goal.

I've seen lots of things that come up, and dozens, hundreds, even millions of people turn up to support their side of the argument.

The Pensacola city counsel proposed a domestic partnership registry and a solid hundred or so representatives of the LGBT community spoke to them at the meeting, not to mention those who attended in silent support.

Certain corporate interests lobbied for bills to suppress internet freedom, and half the country stood up to say no.

Just as a couple of examples.

But time and again, I see the droves of people turn out to show their support... once. A week after the first city counsel meeting in Pensacola regarding domestic partnership, the city counsel met to actually vote on it, and fewer than half of the first group showed up the second time. It passed anyway, but no one was there to see it.

"Net Neutrality" just went away, and no one noticed. No one stood up the second time.

You have such short attention spans. Yes, you. See? You're already not paying attention, are you?

It's not enough to stand up for what you believe in once. You have to stand up every time. If you support LGBT rights, then every time someone says the phrase "LGBT rights" you should be there.

If someone speaks against what you feel is right, and you're not there to answer, you deserve to lose. It's that simple. If you care, prove it. Every time. Do you stand for what's right, or don't you?