MY THOUGHTS, EXACTLY

Column by Patrick J. Gillease

June 30, 2008

Gay Pride

Gay Pride. One day per year in the United States on the last Sunday in June, gay men, lesbians & trans-gender individuals celebrate their unique identities by "coming out" to the rest of the world via national parades, assorted parties, and public events aimed at opening the eyes of a still-far-too-prejudiced world. Here in the Metropolitan Tri-State area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, this has become such a big deal that it rivals many of the other parades that New York City undertakes each year. As the old ACT-UP slogan used to say, "we're here, we're queer, get used to it!"

The inherent problem is that gay rights all around the world have traditionally been a one-step-forward, two-steps-back kind of "progression." Take the 2004 national elections. San Francisco, CA, mayor Gavin Newsom and New Paltz, N,Y mayor Jason West, defied the rest of these "United States," by conducting the first legally-sanctioned gay marriages in this country, just as the state of Massachusetts was becoming the first and only state to legally allow gay marriages state-wide. Although neither California nor New York legally recognized gay marriage on their state levels, both of these brave, forward-thinking mayors felt that by taking these stands in their respective towns, they would highlight the need for Equality in a country that is supposed to guarantee just that very thing.

For a few giddy weeks, gay and lesbian couples all around both states converged on these two towns and finally followed their hearts into unions that had eluded them for decades. They were solidifying their love and commitment for each other by getting married. Isn't that what loving couples do after all?!  Alas, the intended hope of showcasing that "people are just people," after all, no matter their gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation, came crashing down in both towns mere months after the thrilling upstart of the nuptials. Both state legislatures shut down each town's gay wedding ceremonies, citing that they were not legally recognizable on the state-wide level, not to mention the national stage.  

Thereafter, cites all around these "Great United States" began quaking in their fear that these crazy "Homos" would try and start gay weddings in their towns and cities, too. So these terrified bigots began circulating petitions from state-to-state to get Constitutional Amendments on their ballots that November to outlaw gay marriage and define the unions as solely between men and women. How can bigoted, ignorant people get amendments based on their prejudicial fears, and thus override a National Constitution and even State Supreme Courts that otherwise outlaw discrimination and protect "equal rights under the law?!" The whole thing seems antithetical to the very term "American!!"

Be that as it may, states around this country forced hysterical State Amendments onto their ballot boxes that redefined the term "Marriage" as a union solely between a man and a woman, just as our ancestors decades ago passed laws that said slavery and segregation were  acceptable. "All of this has happened before, and will happen again," goes the slogan by an evil enemy on one of my favorite, topical television series of today ("Battlestar Galactica"). In a more simplistic version of this same thought, "History repeats itself." Sad, but true, time and time again.

As a result of all this hoopla, the 2004 National Elections overly-focused on gay marriage and brought the Conservatives out in force to hand George Bush another 4-year Reign-of-Terror as "President of these United States." God help us all today, and we have the faggots to blame, right? If they had just waited until a non-election year, we would have had Pacifist President Kerry and been out of Iraq years ago, still living with $2.00-per-gallon gas instead of the Bush Oil Dynasty's greed. Then, gays & lesbians could have targeted their gay marriage initiative, as was successfully concluded in California this year, where it is now legal for gays & lesbians to wed. But, has anyone noticed that it is again an election year, and the same homophobic public vows to pass yet another statewide Constitutional Amendment overturning their own State Supreme Court that just said it is legally unfair to withhold gay marriage rights under the "Equal Protection of the Law." So once again, public fear and bigotry may overturn legal precedence. Why bother even having Supreme Courts, statewide or nationally, if the bigoted populace can overturn their rulings by mere majority vote?! Let's get rid of ALL the laws!!

The thing that puzzles me the most is this: why do the Conservative bigots in this country and all around the world fear homosexuality and gay marriage to begin with? It's not like gays are on street corners trying to "convert" young children to be homosexuals. It has already been scientifically proven that homosexuality is a genetic variation of Humanity; nobody CHOOSES to be gay or lesbian? Who in their right mind would WANT to choose that with all the prejudice that still exists? As sad as it seems to be that the bigoted voters in the "Golden State" of California will likely pass their homophobic Constitutional Amendment and outlaw this November that which took so many decades to achieve only in this month of Gay Pride, at least we can say as a society that "we made that one step forward," brief as it may be. After all, in just 30 years past, this country has gone from outlawing African Americans to even ride on the same bus or attend the same schools, to having one as the Presidential Nominee of one of the two major national political parties and poised to actually win the Presidency of these "Great United States." Sometimes, our eyes actually open and see the bigotry within ourselves and move beyond it. Who knows? Perhaps in another 30 years, there will be a gay man or lesbian as the winner of his or her National Political Party, poised to win the Presidency. Maybe then we can actually say "The United States of America," without having to type the quotes.

Happy Gay Pride to all of those who identify themselves as homosexual or transgendered !
 

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