Put your money where your sexuality is.

Money equals power--at least in a capitalistic, free-market democracy. Given the current state of economic affairs, it seems unlikely that a new system of economics will prevail in the Western hemisphere anytime soon. Thus, as gay and lesbian people, we must accept the unequivocal power of money, and over the next 30 years, we must strategically use our money to create lasting change that will end homophobia.

As members of a movement, we have many options regarding how we will use our money and power. With the passage of two more generations into adulthood as well as the incredible work of our national, statewide, and local organizations (which will cost a fortune, by the way), it is my hope and belief that the legal civil rights of lesbians and gay men in America--those rights granted and secured through legislative victories--will be unalterably secured.

When I am 73, our time and money will be spent not in Washington but in small towns across America, fighting to change people's values--to end homophobia. It is work I began a week after the passage of Amendment 2 and work I expect to have to undertake for the rest of my life. It is to this work that we must bring gay money and gay power.

You cannot legislate values. When voters passed Amendment 2 in my home state, I realized that the problem was really the attitudes and misconceptions that stem from homophobia. That is what most compelled me into action. The voters passed Amendment 2, the courts took it away, the homophobia remained. If we are going to eradicate homophobia, there is no one strategy alone that is sufficient.

One of those strategies has to be the use of our own monetary resources in clever ways. And if we ignore the fact that values, attitudes, and opinions are historically determined by the economic health of a society, we will lose a critical opportunity to build our base of support to change people's values. Right now marketers, advertisers, and corporate researchers describe us as being more affluent as a community than we really are. This mythology unjustly influences the general public, which will question our need for "special rights."

Using this "data," the conservative right will heighten its efforts to scapegoat us as the cause of bad economic conditions for its core constituency and others they are trying to recruit. It will also use this false economic data to drive a wedge between us and our traditional civil rights allies. All of this will serve to reinforce homophobia and make our job harder.

We must turn this tide and use the truth to change the hearts and minds of Americans. Over the next several years, gay men and lesbians and our allies must engage in a discussion about money and power and learn to deploy our economic power effectively. This does not mean that we need to present gay men and lesbians as affluent. That would be a lie, and being affluent does not validate our equality.

We must recognize that money is power but that our money isn't any more powerful or abundant than anyone else's. The key is how we use our money and power and the impact we can make on people's lives. First, we cannot afford to fight a class war within our community. We should be using our multiplicity of classes to further our mission of ending homophobia. Through that work we can help to recognize the strengths of a people, look beyond money, and along the way improve the lives not only of gay men and lesbians but of women, people of color, and other minorities.

Second, once we recognize the diversity of our resources, we can strategically invest in our future. Most of us can exercise our economic clout to influence people's values in the three places it counts most--at work, in the marketplace, and in the community. No matter our class, we all have the ability to work with each other to:

Use our talents, experience, and time. We must be selective about where we work and hold our employers responsible for the climate in the workplace.

Exercise our spending power. We must buy from supportive companies and withhold sales from those who perpetuate homophobia--including PTL Club advertisers. (If you haven't watched it recently, tune it in for a rush of adrenaline.) Whether it is on a quart of milk, a car, a television program, or a house, we each spend money every day. Every dollar we spend can be a vote for our rights.

Flex our philanthropic muscle. Whether we make $30,000 or $1 million a year, we can afford to give. Almost 80% of all giving comes from households with annual incomes of less than $50,000. Everyone committed to ending homophobia should be giving today. It's easy enough to do, and there are no excuses.

Add activism to all our giving. All the money we give away should be as visible when we give to our church as when we give to our favorite gay rights organization. Make your giving "out" giving.

However, even when we achieve a major positive shift in values, we must maintain the pressure to prevent the loss of gay and lesbian civil rights. Current attacks on affirmative action show us the backsliding of values protecting fairness in the workplace.

So called affirmative-action reform risks reinstituting workplace racism and sexism. The argument being used by both sides of this political debate is economics. Over the next 30 years, we must become even more tenacious in monitoring and controlling the debate around economics and gay and lesbian lives as well as the lives of everyone else.

Gill is founder, chairman, and chief technology officer of Quark Inc., a Denver-based computer-software company. He is also president and founder of the Gill Foundation, a national gay and lesbian philanthropic organization.