F**K Gay People

This man remains markedly cool as he's verbally assaulted by a gang of teens and other kids following the Minneapolis Gay Pride Parade.

I could not have remained as cool. Via Joe.My.God.

Here's Where I Stand

From the Musical Camp, which I have not seen. But it's a great song. Happy Pride.

Obama Knows I'm Gay

Okay, so I signed up on Obama's Web site early in the game...also filled out supporter cards in Nevada and Pennsylvania and Ohio at Obama events.

No where, whether on line or standing in line at an Obama rally did I check off "I'm an Obama supporter and I like other guys."

Yet today I get an email from the campaign entitled "Photos: LGBT Pride Events" that begins:

Thanks to supporters like you, we made a big impact during Pride month.

Okay, you all know how I feel about Pride and I was in the mountains playing Brokeback with the LTR during DC's Pride event. And yet the email exhorts me to host my own "Obama Pride" event.

So how does Obama know I'm gay?

As far as I know from my site meter, no one from the campaign has ever been here (nor would I expect them too, wee blogger that I am).

The only thing I can figure is that somewhere along the way I clicked on something gay related on his Web site or in an email his campaign sent. And so I've been segmented. Or Micro-Targeted, to use Mr. Penn's phrase.

Pretty slick.

So, yes, Mr. Obama, I'm gay, as you suspected. I'll think about hosting an Obama Pride event...but you need to think a bit more about this marriage between a man and a woman thing. You're moving in the right direction, and I think you're more sincere than your former opponent on this issue, but recent events have made me a bit wary.

You understand, right? Since others in the recent past have wanted to turn our gay pride into campaign donations and votes? Only to drop us at the first sign of political trouble?

We can overcome this obsolete view of marriage only between a man and a woman, can't we? We can win over enough votes in California and elsewhere to protect marriage equality if we just work together?

Yes, we can.

If I Weren't a Gay Man

Will O'Bryan wonders aloud in this week's Metro Weekly if he could have chosen to be straight, would he have? This thought-provoking piece made me think about my life if I weren't gay.

The biggest change I wonder is if I would have had such a profound sense of otherness. I've always felt "different" -- how much of that is due to my sexuality can only be guessed at. Growing up, my lack of interest in sports always made it difficult for me to fit in, with peers or adults.

As an adult, I still find it difficult to naturally relate to groups of straight men. I simply don't have much to contribute in social gatherings where the banter is related to sports, cleavage and quips from Caddyshack and Animal House. I'm still an outsider to that fraternity.

I also wonder, if I were straight, if I would be as introspective as I am. From an early age, what I was taught about who and what I should be was in deep conflict with what I felt I was. Beyond contributing to my sense of otherness, this made me very thoughtful (in the sense of thinking, not in the sense of giving, as I am very selfish and inward-focused).

I also think, had I not been gay, I would have likely never questioned what I was taught about religion. I would likely still be dogmatically Christian (I used to teach Sunday School) and would probably be -- given my conservative tilt anyway -- a right-wing Christian fanatic. I know I'd be much more close-minded and may not have even ventured outside the rural area I grew up in.


Growing up, I used to think I'd be a veterinarian. So maybe if I weren't gay (and allergic to some animals) I'd be a small town vet, with wife and kids, a lay leader in my church and likely a GOP precinct Captain. Hell, I probably would have run for public office, been elected and enjoy some success as a Republican lawmaker, only to go down in some sex scandal when I hit middle age, get divorced and lose re-election and have to change churches.

So, come to think about it -- thank God I'm Gay.

UPDATE: Although, if I weren't Gay, there never would have been that unfortunate karaoke incident in Tampa with MattyDale. Just sayin.'

More on Pride

Mattydale gives a full-throated* defense of the fun of hanging with friends at Pride. As if hanging with friends needs defending, my friend.

I find it necessary to point out I'm not against the fun, partying and hanging with friends that happens at Pride. And in many ways, that's a part of pride rooted in history, as it was the police raid of the Stonewall Inn where gays were gathered to do exactly that that started it all.

But does that justify all the resources, money and importance we place on Pride?

Paul Varnell writing in Independent Gay Forum has some common-sense suggestions for making Pride serve the community in practical ways. They are:

The service organizations that depend on volunteers should strongly encourage their volunteers to march in the parade. For instance, the local community center claims "hundreds" of volunteers. If so, show us. And show the general public our level of community spirit. That might encourage others to volunteer as well.

A generation ago, it was difficult to get any politicians except the most liberal from the safest districts to participate in the parade. Not any longer. The number has now grown quite large as every office holder and political aspirant wants the publicity of being in the parade. So now, in order to qualify for admission to the parade, politicians should have to sign a statement saying they support domestic partner benefits in their office and civil unions or gay marriage. If they don't, what are they doing in OUR parade?

The large corporations that enter floats should have to disclose whether they have a non-discrimination clause, whether they offer domestic partner benefits for gay and lesbian employees, whether they have and support a gay employees organization. And they should be encouraged to indicate any corporate support they have given to gay organizations. That information could be noted in the program booklet for the parade.

So, have fun, everyone attending Pride this weekend. I'll raise my glass to you from the mountains...and to the queers who kicked open the closet doors for all of us 39 years ago at Stonewall.

*"full-throated" It's the other cliche emerging out of the 2008 election cycle.

Gay Pride

Telling, it is, that the measure of whether DC's Pride Weekend was a success to the organizers is purely financial, according to this Metro Weekly article.

Don't misunderstand -- we should expect the Pride Festival to be managed well and to be solvent. But isn't that the minimum standard? The floor? Should there be more to Pride than business competence?

An Economist article recounts the Simpsons episode where:

A FEW years ago, a Gay Pride parade passed The Simpsons' house in Springfield. “We're here! We're queer! Get used to it!” chanted the marchers. Little Lisa Simpson replied: “You do this every year. We are used to it.

I'm not an enemy of Pride. I think the Festival in DC is valuable in bringing out the community and allies. It helps us network, make partnerships and friends and helps our organizations find new members and supporters.

I think Pride fails dismally at helping preserve and promote our political history and political priorities. How many people of the younger generation know we celebrate Pride in June because that's when the Stonewall riots took place? How many know what really happened at Stonewall? Or care, for that matter?

Maybe it's not important. Maybe the younger generation doesn't need to know, because, for many of them, being openly gay is no big deal, to them or their straight friends. They don't remember a time when just going to a Gay Pride event was a political statement in itself, that attending the festival when it was in the park behind the Francis school was truly a liberating moment from the workaday closet.

Maybe Lisa is right -- they are used to it -- and Gay Pride doesn't need to be significant anymore. Maybe solvency is the goal, after all.

Pride Parades in Major US Cities

They are a waste of time and effort and are probably even counter productive. At least when viewed through a lens that Pride is an event that has some political meaning.

Why not just divorce the notion of "Gay Pride" from the parade and call it what it is: Gay Madi Gras.

In DC we celebrate Pride with a parade on Saturday and a street festival on Sunday. I find the Festival worthwhile, it brings the community as a whole together for one day, which is productive. But the parade is mostly a titallating party, and this year, not a very fun one at that.

Keep the festival. I'd as soon do away with the parade.

I do think a Pride parade would have value and serve it's original purpose in less diverse and smaller cities.

Gay Pride

This is Gay Pride weekend here in DC. Gay Pride has always seemed like a party in search of a purpose.

But, as we've seen this year, in places like Moscow and now Jerusalem the right for gays to publicy and peacefully gather should not be taken for granted.

Watch for me in the parade :-)