ABSTRACT
This chapter is titled “The Politics of Self-Indulgence” with a question mark for good reason. While many, if not most, legislative types are almost always opposed to protest, I personally believe there are a number of occasions when strong, effective protest can strengthen the hand of those working on the inside, and sometimes can even produce direct results by themselves. In the twenty-three years in which I've worked full-time for lesbian and gay civil rights, I've been involved in more than a few protests myself. However, in the final analysis, I think each of us has to make a decision whether we are going to be “inside players” or one of the “hell-raisers” on the outside, because to try to do both consistently almost always leads to being discounted. But I didn't know that when I started—there were no “insiders” and I wanted to help shake things up and fight for fairness.
