1. The “Religious Right,” or very conservative people who self-define as “religious,” are less than one-third of all “religious” people in the US, yet we inflate their importance by constantly blaming and attacking them.

2. Two-thirds of those who self-define as “religious” in the US do NOT have a problem with us.

3. We spend most of our resources and efforts on the false hope of a “political solution” and there isn’t one. There NEVER was.

4. We have NO chance in the US Senate, no matter how much we waste with HRC and other lobbying efforts.

5. Citizen lobbyists and all other efforts to get us to contact our elected officials is a complete waste of energy. They respond to polls or beliefs, not the number of contacts they receive. It is a waste of effort. HRC’s “No Excuses” Campaign is a good example.

6. We are not “outnumbered” as HRC and other organizations repeatedly promote in an effort to raise money and defer real action. In fact, we’re actually part of an important majority: “citizens that believe in equality.”

7. We do NOTHING (as a community or movement) to enroll fellow citizens in our cause because we are too busy playing politics or expressing anger at religiously-inspired-bigots (the religious minority).

8. We do NOTHING to re-brand or re-define what it means to be “gay,” and we continue to be defined by religious zealots (again, the religious minority).

9. We contribute (as a community) an average of $200 million per year and see little to NO results. While the cultural conversation has changed moderately in our favor it is NOT because of our efforts, but in spite of them. The changes in public opinion are the result of older Americans dying (along with their conservative religious beliefs) and young people being more informed and open-minded.

10. Our dysfunctional “movement” does not have a cohesive strategy and we have been trying the same limited “tactics” for 40-50 years with the same marginal results. The movement’s goal is the uninspiring “one of these days” and there is no effort to actually WIN. All efforts are deemed “incremental” and intended to eventually add up to victory. An idea that is 40-50 years old.

2010 must be the year we inject accountability and the search for a real winning strategy to obtain full LGBT Equality – complete with a Plan and a date for completion. We must let go of the false hope of a political solution and do the work ourselves. WE must figure out how to enroll our fellow citizens in our equality. Until we do that we will never achieve real, sustainable equality.

We will be equal when people believe we are. That reality is currently available, but we have to ask for help.