Safire has found various examples of how this term has often been used and then goes on to explain exactly what is meant by "Up and Down." Barbarow writes: "Awareness is a tricky thing to request. Is belligerent awareness better than passive blindness? I don't intend to choose. At Emory, I don't usually have to. Most people are confused at worst, pleasant at best, but passive on average." This is the beginning of her argument that sets the tone for the rest of the discussion. She knows that people are confused and it is this confusion that can hurt the cause of gay community.

Safire also understands how confusion might contribute to damage of a cause as he writes, "Vice President Gore used global warming in his book 'Earth in the Balance." But now that the 90's label switch has switched back, Davies of Greenpeace argues that the verb change is not only weak but also misleading: "It's really 'disruption,' and it isn't benign at all." He feels in a very objective manner that this confusion should be cleared up so...

Barbarow is making an attempt to educate the people who would probably not be too interested in taking all this time to learn the various terms and their meaning when they actually do not concern them. At best, she can offer education to gay community who might benefit from knowing these distinctions. Safire's audience is just about everyone because these terms concern all of us. We all should know that global warming and climate change are not the same things even if they are closely connected.
Safire's confusion and frustration are ours as well. Barbarow's confusion is her owns and is quite personal.

References

William Safire, Up or Down, New York Times

Jaclyn Barbarow, Queering the campus, Queer Atlantic