Although brought to consciousness only in the 1950s as a persecuted minority, persons attracted to others of the same sex have persisted throughout human history. Persecuting gays along with Blacks, women, immigrants, set one group of persecuted people against others, and serves the hierarchical nature of US society helping to keep the rulers in power.

Thanks to struggle dating to both before and since Stonewall in the US, gays/queer folk have made advancements, and it is now possible for large numbers of gays to define themselves as "mainstream." An earlier parallel process occurred in the African American community with a considerable enlarging of the middle class, a phenomenon that has helped propel the Obama candidacy.

As Jeremiah Wright and others have pointed out in the African American community, illusions about the degree of Black advancement can have serious consequences for all Blacks. Witness the recent acquittal of the Sean Bell killers in NYC, and the attack by 15 cops on three Black men in Philadelphia.

Some of us in the gay/queer community think that there are similar illusions about the degree and permanency of our collective equality. Being aware of the persistence of white supremacy and homophobia/heterosexism, and remembering how German Jews who thought themselves assimilated were swept away in the Nazi attack on Jews, radicals, labor leaders and others; we warn that a change in social conditions could result in a rapid reversal of gains. The recent defeat in the Illinois House, where Democrats hold a 15 vote majority, of the modest proposal to give some benefits to same-sex partners of Chicago teachers ought to give assimilationists pause.

BTW Queer@, straights are oppressed by capitalism too. Perhaps you didn't mean to suggest that they are not.

People across the globe now recognize the US government as the main threat to world peace. And with good reason. But of course, among most Americans-- including some spamers to this thread--illusions abound about US good intentions and the alleged benefits of global capitalism.