The comments in rm's post include some great discussion of this, including this exchange:

RM: I think you are absolutely right. I want to say "how did we forget to be angry" but maybe it's because so many people died.

Me: Whereas me? I'm still, endlessly, "too" angry, and I hate watching my country do this again and again.

But I'd rather be the too angry "child" of ACT-UP than the person who sits back and watches the family she's chosen be decimated by stupidity and lies every day.

one of these days soon, i'm going to end up in the front yard smacking the ground with a large stick, giving america the beating it so richly deserves.

honestly, i don't see why we bother with the pretense of a constitution, anymore.. it's not like the pretty words about guarantees of liberty and equality under law contained in those dusty, neglected papers actually mean anything, anymore.

I wasn't aware the pink triangle had ever gone out of vogue. I mean, I have a rainbow on my car - mostly so I can flirt w/ girls - but wasn't aware that the triangle is the angrier/more activist symbol. I was all w/ my fist up in the air w/ the ACT UP days too, in North Jersey & NYC in the eighties. But it's interesting that I didn't think of the pink triangle as being to more political symbol.

yeah - if you look at the history of gay rights activism, the rainbow flags etc were a reaction to people who felt the pink triangle was too political; now that the GLBTQ had at least some basic rights, and that AIDS was being talked about and treatments developed that a less confrontational show of support was needed - and they designed the rainbow for that purpose

but both b & i keep talking about it - look at a contemporary webpage or pride festival - the triangle is gone; and while we seem to get angry sometimes nowhere is it consistent or loud like it was in the 80's; also, it feels to us like our history is being whitewashed a bit with the change to happy pretty rainbows

i don't know about you, but i lost too many people i loved in the 80's, from government neglect and ignorance and i can no more forget that than i can forget all the people i know were killed in concentration camps or who were tortured by Bush & Co or... i am still that angry punk in a lot of ways, i just channel it a bit better