What Do You Care About?

April 11, 2007

Comedian Roseanne Barr said yesterday that:

Never once in my 54 years have I ever once heard a gay or lesbian person who’s politically active say one thing about anything that was not about them. They don’t care about minimum wage, they don’t care about any other group other than their own self because you know, some people say being gay and lesbian is a totally narcissistic thing and sometimes I wonder.

She has since apologized on her Web site, twice (thanks, Pam). I commend her for that. Given that her eponymous sitcom was one of the first television shows to tackle LGBT issues positively and openly, I do believe she was not being homophobic, though she was clearly misguided.

Here’s a question for you, then, to offer her some guidance: If you consider yourself “politically active,” what are the issues that you care about aside from LGBT ones? For the sake of argument, let’s define “care about” as “took an action to support within the past few years,” such as signing a petition, writing to an elected official, or donating money. For me, the list includes (in alphabetical order) education, the environment, health-care reform, hurricane and tsunami relief, public radio and television, and reproductive rights. You?

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