Team Rainbow

I started writing this the weekend of Twin Cities Pride, when I was able to get out there and celebrate something much bigger than myself.  Equality among all types of sexual orientation.  Equality among people.  One thing I have found interesting is how much intensity I've observed in pro/anti GLBT discussions and beliefs over the past few years. Maybe I've just paid closer attention, or maybe it truly means we're getting somewhere here.

I have this quote on my Facebook profile, and I just think it rings so truly, that I have to post it here, too. 

"Here's what I don't understand: Is there so much love and commitment in the world that we can afford, as a society, to be contemptuous of some part of it?" -Anna Quindlen in Newsweek, in reference to the opposition to gay marriage

Now that I think about it, I may have posted this on a previous blog post. That's okay - I think it's important enough to hear a couple times.  Last time I was referring to sappy relationships, this time it's important to think about same-sex relationships, or other relationships for that matter, that scare you just because it's not familiar to you.  Relationships that seem awkward because they're not what you're used to.  It's okay to feel awkward.  It's just not okay to judge that the relationship is inferior to the ones you've experienced.

I think back to junior high, when I made friends with this smart SMART boy named Greg.  Greg and I were in a lot of classes together - Algebra, English, Science, History.  We were the smart kids, we knew it.  We formed a coalition very early on.  We'd take pride in our work.  In high school we were in a joint Enriched English/History block class, where we made films about Sacagawea and read The Grapes of Wrath.  Senior year, Greg and I went to prom together.  (If I look back at journals from sophomore and junior year, there were times when I felt heartbroken by Greg as well).  We all knew Greg was going to do amazing things in the world, so when he would return home from becoming that world-renowned pianist we knew he was, I'd get to hear stories of New York City and his crazy life.  And I vividly remember the day he told me he was gay.  He said it, and I was like "Okay, that's great.  No big deal."  He was still just my Greg - the smart boy I'd been friends with for over a decade.

To this day, I have some extremely close gay friends, and in my mind, there isn't even necessity for a label.  They're just Greg. Carl. Trace. Ryan. Mark. People with amazingly big personalities and even bigger hearts.