1) (Observations come from the hoity toity Ivy League academic setting) Poverty/class issues in America are ignored in favor of discussions of race and sexuality, and discussions on the latter tend to have an "upper class" focus. There's a willingness to engage in honest, deep, critical discussions on race (see: Critical Race Theory) and delve into the nuances of the most seemingly insignificant but potentially invidious actions in daily life (i.e. asking a Chinese man "where are you from", hearing California, and then insisting "no, where are you really from") and elevating such interactions to the level of supreme travesties.
Yet.. there's a lack of discourse on class and poverty because there's a blindness to it. When the leading professors or students of color or LGBT students, in addition to the progressively minded white students, are all of upper-middle class strata or higher, there's a lack of perspective to even understand the problem beyond acknowledging simple data.
And this isn't a polite way of saying "worry about white people too!". It's easier for these types to discuss race issues they may encounter personally or observed others experiencing -- being "othered" at Dartmouth, for example -- than any sort of struggle in Camden.
2) A primary reason why the gay rights movement was able to achieve such rapid success is that it's a White Minority movement, which made relating to the issue easier for young white people and facilitated change among older white people. If the face of LGBT was predominantly black or Hispanic gays and lesbians, we'd be 20 years behind.
