8 Reasons LGBT Millennials Still Need to Pay Attention to Their History

With Miley's panromantic pride splashed over every tabloid and Anna Paquin owning Larry King like nobody else, plus MARRIAGE and other such recent wonders, you could be forgiven for thinking that lots of battles have been won since we old 30-plus-somethings whispered to our besties over the school lunch table that we might be into ladies and all hell broke loose. And they have. But take it from us - we/you can't get complacent. Here are reasons we all need to be vigilant and learn from our history. 

(RELATED: 8 Reasons LGBT Gen-Xers Need to Listen to Millennials)

1. Same-sex marriage really shouldn't have taken this long to be legalized across the USA. 

LGBT people as young as in their forties lived through the AIDS epidemic.  The generation before that made Stonewall happen. It wasn't that long ago that things were really, really bad. 

2. People are still being killed - or killing themselves - because of homo, bi and transphobia.

Murders and suicides as a result of bullying are still rife. Twelve-year-old Alyssa Morgan took her own life in April. Nine transwomen have been murdered in the US this year, showing a terrifying spike in transphobic violence. 

3. People don't always follow the law, and it can change. 

Remember the Bush years? We "elders" do. Politics can move backwards in alarming ways. We may laugh at Sarah Palin or Donald Trump, but there are people who still pay attention to their insane rantings. Plus, in several states in the U.S. we can still be fired or denied housing for being LGBT. 

4. Lesbian and bi women are out there and proud - but they're still being fetishized and disbelieved. 

Amber Heard, Portia de Rossi -- they're too pretty to be bi or lesbian, right?  And let us not forget that women in general are still getting paid less than men, still getting raped, still being sexualized in the media in degrading and demeaning ways... Feminism's battle is far from won. 

5. School sex ed curriculums still haven't really caught up.

In a country where some schools are legitimately allowed to teach creationism (map here), it's no surprise that this is an issue. Fewer than half of all US schools were found to be covering LGBT issues in a 2012 study. When I was at high school in the UK in the 1990s, there was even a special law preventing teachers from talking about homosexuality. Gee, that made me feel GREAT. 

6. Bisexuality is totally OK, even if it's still not taken as seriously as it needs to be. 

There's a real trend for treating any female celebs who express an interest in more than one gender as "experimenting" or doing it to please men. Oh wait, that's how all bisexuals are treated. But when I was growing up, it was way worse. I managed to be bisexual and not even know that I wasn't the only one for quite a long time (as crazy as that sounds). Anyway, whatever they say - and I hate the attention-seeker "bi-triers" as much as you do - the bi battle is a highly legit one and deserves some work. It's a victory for the whole LGBT spectrum if we own this one. Trans folk are getting some positive limelight now and I LOVE IT and I want it to be us greedy fence-straddlers (no - do not call us that - only we're allowed to call us that!) next. 

7. TV and film have totally moved on... 

We older queers lived through stuff like the utter horror and betrayal of ABC canceling Ellen because they were afraid of having a gay character pulling down ratings. MAN did that make my 14-year-old self feel even more wretched and awful about being into girls. "The Puppy Episode" was the most exciting thing I'd seen and I literally wanted to marry Ms. DeGeneres RIGHT THERE. Plus, NONE of the next day's bullying bugged me because she had my back! Now our screens are alive with genderqueer people, trans people, bi people, intersex people on shows including Transparent, Orange Is the New Black, The Good Wife, Pretty Little Liars, Faking It... But positive representation is something we have to continue to strive for! 

8. We love you and we want the best for the future. 

We're so glad you're doing all this great work. We're so pleased we've passed on that big rainbow baton to such an awesome group of people. 

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