Protests for what?

The Associated Press reported today that Wednesday, December 10, will be "Day without a Gay," across the nation as people call in to work protesting. According to the report, a gay couple thought up the idea after Proposition 8, an amendment banning gay marriages, was passed in California. The idea is to take money out of the economy because gays spend $700 billion annually, and they would like others to appreciate their importance. The organizers are encouraging people to become involved and donate their time to charities. While this may sound, on the surface, like a simple, harmless idea, it has a few flaws I'd like to point out. First, the idea to remove money from the economy 1) furthers the economic downturn, and 2) has no meaningful relevance to their cause. After all, isn't the whole idea equal treatment? Refusing to work or spend money does not correlate with the idea of equality. Let's look at the idea holistically. For the case of equal treatment to be valid, let's remind ourselves that we are all equal. Having said that, consider a "family day out"--all of the families call in and refuse to go to work, school, or whatever. How about a day where all Whites call in? All Hispanics? What purpose would that serve? Taking money out of the economy--at least in the short term--hurts the businesses like Wal-Mart that support the gay community. Refusing to work in this economy just isn't a smart idea. A better way to protest is to prove people wrong. Go to work, do your job--better than anyone else--give back to the community (without taking from it), treat others as you would like to be treated. Be the person they can't. After all, we can't change anyone else's mind, no matter how much we protest. Plus,if someone doesn't appreciate you for who you are now, they really won't when they're having to do your work for you.