The Dawn of a New Era
Mar. 25th, 2013 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
howeirdThat's what it feels like, all the recent announcements by conservatives that they have had a change of heart, and now see the rightness of legalizing gay marriage.
It took Obama way too long to see the light. He was not raised a Bible bigot, he chose to become one, and those born-for-the-first-timers can really plant their feet. But he has come around most of the way.
Many of the minds were changed by their children coming out to them. A few managed to on their own finally separate their church from their state. Whatever the catalyst, it feels to me like a big rock being rolled away from the cave entrance, and the hostages coming out. The dawn of a new era. Maybe the dawn of a new ERA as well?
TMI behind the cut
Until I was in college, I had no idea that people might want to have sex and serious relationships with members of their same sex. In college my sister was an avid folkdancer, and she took me along because I love the music (I danced some, but mostly played along on a soprano recorder). There was a very tall dancer named Steve who was from Columbia, MO who had a boyfriend, and a woman named Bonnie ("call me Bon, please) who had a crush on one of the women who was straight. And then there was one of the best dancers who often taught in the first hour of each session, Jimmy. He did beautiful Balkan/Greek/Macedonian embroidery, mostly to decorate shirts, make them into folkdance costumes.
And thereby hangs a tale.
Jimmy took the #7 bus to work downtown. So did my mother. She saw him embroidering on the bus, was impressed with his work, sat down next to him to ask him about it - where he learned, what style was it, etc. When they introduced themselves, Jimmy found out immediately she was my mother, and I'm pretty sure I'd talked about him to her as well. Sure I had, Friday nights after dancing I used to go over to his place with the gang for Creature Features. Anyhow, they were bus buddies from then on.
We both knew he was gay, it just wasn't important.
A few years later, Jimmy tells me he needs to speak to me privately, so we meet somewhere for coffee or some such, and the conversation goes like this:
J: "I'm moving to Los Angeles"
H: "No! Why would you do that?"
J: "It's hard to tell you this. I'm gay"
H: "Yeah, so?"
J: (sighs) "I'm glad you feel that way. I have a boyfriend, he lives in LA, I'm moving to be with him"
H: "I'll miss you. We will all miss you."
He moved in a couple of weeks. I never saw him again. Have searched for him online with no results.
Anyway, all of that to say I have always taken people at face value. The only time I care at all what a person's sexual orientation is is when it's a woman I'm interested in dating. But then, there have been far more women who were not interested in me who were not interested in women, either.
But I digress. This week has given me some hope. I hope the Supes continue that feeling.
It took Obama way too long to see the light. He was not raised a Bible bigot, he chose to become one, and those born-for-the-first-timers can really plant their feet. But he has come around most of the way.
Many of the minds were changed by their children coming out to them. A few managed to on their own finally separate their church from their state. Whatever the catalyst, it feels to me like a big rock being rolled away from the cave entrance, and the hostages coming out. The dawn of a new era. Maybe the dawn of a new ERA as well?
TMI behind the cut
Until I was in college, I had no idea that people might want to have sex and serious relationships with members of their same sex. In college my sister was an avid folkdancer, and she took me along because I love the music (I danced some, but mostly played along on a soprano recorder). There was a very tall dancer named Steve who was from Columbia, MO who had a boyfriend, and a woman named Bonnie ("call me Bon, please) who had a crush on one of the women who was straight. And then there was one of the best dancers who often taught in the first hour of each session, Jimmy. He did beautiful Balkan/Greek/Macedonian embroidery, mostly to decorate shirts, make them into folkdance costumes.
And thereby hangs a tale.
Jimmy took the #7 bus to work downtown. So did my mother. She saw him embroidering on the bus, was impressed with his work, sat down next to him to ask him about it - where he learned, what style was it, etc. When they introduced themselves, Jimmy found out immediately she was my mother, and I'm pretty sure I'd talked about him to her as well. Sure I had, Friday nights after dancing I used to go over to his place with the gang for Creature Features. Anyhow, they were bus buddies from then on.
We both knew he was gay, it just wasn't important.
A few years later, Jimmy tells me he needs to speak to me privately, so we meet somewhere for coffee or some such, and the conversation goes like this:
J: "I'm moving to Los Angeles"
H: "No! Why would you do that?"
J: "It's hard to tell you this. I'm gay"
H: "Yeah, so?"
J: (sighs) "I'm glad you feel that way. I have a boyfriend, he lives in LA, I'm moving to be with him"
H: "I'll miss you. We will all miss you."
He moved in a couple of weeks. I never saw him again. Have searched for him online with no results.
Anyway, all of that to say I have always taken people at face value. The only time I care at all what a person's sexual orientation is is when it's a woman I'm interested in dating. But then, there have been far more women who were not interested in me who were not interested in women, either.
But I digress. This week has given me some hope. I hope the Supes continue that feeling.
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