Digital Boundaries

An era of unprecedented access has burst upon the landscape, spewing forth a collage of technology. Pagers, cell phones, fax machines, voice mail, and personal computers have forever changed the way we live our lives. Borders have blurred, time zones have disappeared, and insomnia is the chic disorder of the nineties. People emerge from their homes blurry-eyed and dazed, having spent the entire night chatting with a gay, albino, vegetarian, nuclear physicist about the plight of the wild, Albanian, fur-bearing woodpecker. Cruising and surfing have become the physical activity of choice for millions of people and dating is now an agreement to meet in a private chat room.

This is truly the final frontier.

The advent of personal computing has enabled millions of Americans to tap into a previously unexplored region: Cyberspace. The potential for this new medium is still uncharted but that has not slowed the trailblazers who have lead the charge. Individuals, organizations, governments, and corporations are scrambling to stake out a share of this vast frontier, which has begun to take on the appearance of an Old West town with its hodge-podge mixture of Web sites all vying for the attention of a growing audience.

Amid this clammer and confusion lies a unique opportunity for the gay and lesbian community to reach out to the broadest possible audience and win their hearts and minds. Seeking enlightenment between games of Doom, these explorers may prove to be the most receptive audience and can help us carry the banner of equality to all points on the globe. We have struggled for decades to gain even a modicum of acceptance and today, at the cusp of the 21st century, we are poised to gain so much more. We have the opportunity to express to the world our dignity and strength. To finally put a face on the shadow that has lingered too long at the periphery of humanity's banquet.

There is no ignoring the increasing profile of the gay and lesbian movement. In his dissent to the favorable Supreme Court decision in Romer v. Evans, Justice Antonin Scalia claims that '...they [homosexuals] possess political power much greater than their numbers, both locally and statewide. Quite understandably, they devote this political power to achieving not merely a grudging social toleration, but full social acceptance, of homosexuality....' We have set the stage for a cultural revolution of unprecedented scope which will affect virtually every aspect of modern life and change forever the way society views human sexuality. That's quite a burden, but we have been preparing for this since the first homosexual was stoned to death, or denied basic civil rights.

We should use this medium to establish web sites, collect and dispense information about gay/lesbian/bisexual/human issues, focus on issues which the traditional media cannot or will not acknowledge, and voice our candor to our elected officials. The much touted 'Global Village' is upon us and it is our responsibility to use it to pull back the velvet curtain and begin to foster social acceptance for ourselves and our children.

The gay and lesbian community has a wealth of knowledgeable, creative, and dedicated individuals ready to commit their time and talents to making a change. A revolution is at hand, lead by a few million enlightened souls and assisted by a speck of silicon.

Copyright © Ken Von Alt.