I think you already know my stand on activists. Hurry up with the trash.

" . . . The sun does not shine upon this fair earth to meet frowning eyes, depend upon it." Charles Dickens

Hmm... how many activists do you know of that haven't "turned people off"? The very point of participating in activism is to fight back against one set of people who have certain beliefs, in support of your own. Naturally if you're in support of homosexuality in a reasonably conservative area you're going to turn people off. Some might even conclude you could measure your success on how much people dislike you!

I find activism (pro-gay activism specifically) to be quite a good thing, if not extremely important, and nothing short of essential to the education of the ignorant. As much as we don't like to face up to it, our mothers and fathers and other people we care about can be as equally ignorant as those we mock and find appalling. Similarly, whilst they don't like to face it, their sons and daughters can be gay - like all those other "gays" who they've happily been detached from their entire lives. As such it comes as no surprise your mother might try and dissuade you from being an activist on such a controversial issue.

More innocently, she's probably just concerned for your safety, what with horror stories like Matthew Shepherd that get batted around so frequently. It's a valid point, but as one of my favourite quotes says:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety"

So... be what you want to be, do what you want to do. And be confident in the knowledge you're doing an ultimately good thing, irrespective of who it pisses off :)

As for the Peter/Chris rambling, I've no idea what you're on about.

"If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon."
- George Aiken