Transgender rights (he kept incorrectly saying transgendered, but that is a quibble) and Gay rights aren't "boutique issues." When he said that I was really angry. I was also pissed when he incorrectly and falsely attributed changes toward GBL persons to the media by saying "they were in almost every show". BULLSHIT! Not even remotely true, and it still isn't true today!

Gay rights came from people like me, those before me, and those who have followed making our voices heard and holding people accountable. Challenging stereotypes and confronting homophobia and heterosexism at every level. Our rights weren't fucking handed to us! People fought and some died for us to get where we are...AND WE STILL AREN'T DONE!

I still like him, but this was a BIG, GINORMUS FAIL!

We will NOT be denied, nor thrown under the bus for "political expediency!"

GLBT rights are HUMAN rights and they are CIVIL rights!!

I do wish you luck in your cause. You will need it in any case in these days but you will need it a lot more under Trump in my opinion. You are holding your hands over your ears and yelling LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU as Maher tries to tell you something you really need to understand. We do not live in the best of all possible worlds, or even really in a very good world, but we do live in a world that can improve. Obama pissed off a lot of people by with that quote about gay marriage that Maher played, but gay marriage is now the law of the land. Do you honestly think there is any chance that would have happened under a McCain-Palin administration?

There is nothing good for you about the possibility of Trump taking the White House. There is really nothing good for any of us. This is a guy who asked not once, but three times in a one hour briefing, "Why can't we just use the nukes?" Against that all other issues are boutique issues. You cannot get your rights if you are radioactive dust.

It isn't a matter of "holding your hands over your ears and yelling LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"; I am not the one doing it; the two of you are. Dismissing CIVIL rights as "boutique issues" is offensive, ignorant, and bigoted. Heterosexist bullshit like this is why things progress so slowly. People like that are willing to dismiss/ignore/sideline issues which don't affect them at all!

What you and he don't understand is there is a way to be inclusive without making things "front and center" and keeping people "on message" and not get distracted by bright, shiny things. Issues like legalization of marijuana is a "boutique" issue. But HUMAN RIGHTS and EQUALITY are not "boutique" or frivolous issues and those who think so are demonstrating privilege, lack of awareness, and bigotry.

What you and he don't understand is it isn't a matter of disrespecting your base, but by motivating them.

His point was about THEIR base, the people who nominated Trump.

This is about math, and sometimes math tells you things you don't want to hear. I don't think anyone likes what it says about space travel and the speed of light. And you do not want to motivate Trump voters. As it stands a lot of them will stay in as Maher put it "their trailers" because they distrust the process anyway, and the primary fervor has passed. GOOD! LET THEM! Don't give them an excuse to get in their pickup trucks and go pull a lever. Let them continue thinking it doesn't matter. It's fucking IMPORTANT.

We can hash out the rest of it after November but right now, the critical thing is that it is not in anybody's interest, not yours, not mine, not even any Republican's, for Trump to become President. He is Greg Stillson from The Dead Zone incarnate, only even worse because the fictional Stillson wasn't born with a silver spoon up his nose.

This is not the time to agitate for ANYTHING which might motivate Trump voters to come out to the polls -- not climate change, not pot legalization, not gun control, not abortion rights, not free speech, not ANYTHING. None of it will matter if Trump launches the nukes or makes "Cheeto Benito" more than a punch line.

You are certainly right that rights are important. But it is also important to play the poker game of politics with a bit of a feint. Obama has always done this very well. There is a time to make your case loudly and a time to be silent and let your opposition implode. This season is that latter situation. If you are too obvious and consistent your opponent will always know what he needs to do to defeat you, and he will do it easily. Obama has faced more steadfast opposition than any president since Lincoln and he has managed to make progress anyway, because the Republicans did not understand this principle. Do not make their mistake yourself.

I know what his comments were about, you, however, don't seem to understand my point. It shouldn't be about worrying if people who will NEVER vote for you are offended, but rather working your ass off to make sure those who DO vote for you turn out! You are so damn worried about "offending" his supporters, you don't care if those who almost ALWWAYS support the democrats get shit upon.

So, you claim "rights are important," but your forgot your caveat "unless they interfere with our campaign." As some one who is gay, I have MUCH MORE to lose from a Trump presidency, I don't need to be "convinced," but what I also don't need are people from MY side telling me "your equality is fucking frivolous. Get over yourself and your desire for equality!"

MLK said, "We will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

That certainly applies to this conversation.

If you do not understand what it takes in reality to get positive changes as opposed to negative changes, then you are acting stupidly. Your cause is important. I understand that. I sympathize with you, unlike the Cheeto Benito. But I also understand that there is a real world path that in this case only runs in two directions. One of those directions leads to universal mayhem and none of us getting anything that we want if we even survive it at all. The other leads to a pretty good platform for you to get your hearing. It's up to you to decide which of those two outcomes you want to work for.

It is bigoted to claim civil rights of GLBT people are "boutique issues" and the ones making such claims are, possibly, homophobic bigots, but definitely heterosexists who have no skin in the game. What is disgusting, yet so predictable, is the constant catering to the "other side" in order not to rile them up, while shitting all over loyal constituents and not giving two shits or sputtering hollow rhetoric like, "Your cause is important. I understand that. I sympathize with you" all the while actually saying, "Shut the fuck up! When we want your opinion, we will tell you what it is! Now, go the kid's table!"

Nobody is telling you your cause isn't important. We are telling you this isn't the season for it. Perhaps you should look less at Dr. King and more at Malcolm X to see what I'm getting at.

The quote is appropriate.

OK, this has gotten silly. I will simply leave you with my original wish, which I do mean: Good luck advancing your agenda under President Trump. Really. You'll need it, and I do believe your cause is important.

You can now have the last word if you want. I'm done here.

Good luck in convincing others it is better to concern yourself with the needs of those who oppose you, and better to mock those who have supported you. Better for us GLBT to remember, it is worse in Iran and Uganda, right? Where would we be without those with privilege dictating when, where, and how we should achieve our goals on their terms, as not to upset the applecart. We should be so very thankful for people who can 'splain this to us and make sure our "gay agenda" (y'know, equality) doesn't interfere with their lives. How useful it is to know the "bullet is in the chamber" to remind us that a loss is our fault for getting "uppity, not knowing our place, and daring to demand equality" and not the fault of those worrying so much about not attracting the wrong people, instead of trying to attract and motivate the right ones.

So...I again say via some truly inspiring heroes who know something about equality, making a stand, even if not popular, and doing the right thing because it is just, not convenient:

by Defeating him