Heh..
I was just meditating on some stuff, when out of nowhere I heard the following line..
"Many people shout 'oh, God' during sex, but most people who really mean it are Pagan."
I sat up and laughed my ass off for about five minutes straight.
Speaking of Pagans and sex, I'm going to be among those reading cards at a gay pride event in Sayville while my HP gives a talk on sacred sexuality.
For a straight guy, I end up at a lot of Gay Pride stuff.
Me (green blob at far left) marching with PFLAG last Saturday
Cableflame and I the next day
I'll take this opportunity to write a bit more about something that troubled me about that march last week. This gets drippy, feel free to skip it...
The name PFLAG stands for Parents, Families (and Friends) of Lesbians and Gays. The group was an upbeat bunch from all walks of life, many sporting signs, buttons, and t-shirts proclaiming "I'm proud of my gay son," "I love my lesbian sister," and so on. This group basically exists to let people say "hey, we love you whatever your lifestyle choice," in force of numbers.
I've always felt like that myself. So many of you who are important to me in this world are gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and so on. It's never been a factor in how I choose my friends, and I've never loved a family member less for swinging one way or another. So when it turned out Cable was friendly with the local chapter of this group, and we got the opportunity to march with them, this seemed like a neat thing to do.
And it was. The crowds, which ranged from five people deep on either side to occupying the entire sidewalk, porches, windows, and roofs along the route, loved PFLAG. There were no crowd barriers of the type that this NY parade veteran is used to, so we got to mingle with the cheering spectators we were walking past. And, due to traffic oddness in the parade route, the whole thing stopped and started often, meaning we'd be standing in the same place for a number of minutes.
What I was in no way prepared for was just how much the crowd loved PFLAG. This was a parade full of flashy floats, bands, costumes, drag queens and kings, and similar much more expensive, colorful, and visually impressive than PFLAG's ragtag bunch of moms, dads, grandparents, friends, and one minivan. Still, PFLAG got some of the biggest cheers. Chants of "P-FLAG! P-FLAG" echoed along the route. As PFLAG and I passed people on the sidelines, I got high-fives, handshakes, and hugs from people thanking me. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, trannies, civilians, cops, even some soldiers in uniform. Many of these people were in tears. All were jubilant.
I was utterly gobsmacked by this. Sure, I appreciated the gratitude that these people had for the PFLAGgers.. but I honestly had no idea how much of an impact it all made.
This group was impacting the lives of these innumerable thousands of people, just by not being mean to them.
Imagine taking a short trip around town to run an errand or two. When you got to where you were going, you were suddenly mobbed by hundreds of drivers, pedestrians, nearby residents, and everyone else you could conceivably have injured or killed on your way, but didn't.
Imagine street vendors, traffic cops, crossing guards, and school children hugging you, competing for a chance to shake your hand, and crying tears of joy and gratitude on your shoulder just because you acted the way you always have, and allowed them to go about their lives.
Simply because you didn't punch any strangers in the face or run them over with your car, just because you didn't shoot them through the head or lob bombs through their windows, you're a hero. A celebrity, even.
That's precisely what it felt like to me.
I had some trouble with this, and although I was riding the happy energy of the day during it all, I was quite melancholy for a while afterward. Not over the actions of anyone involved, but over the fact that the world is in such a state that this sort of acceptance is enough of a novelty, a rarity, something to be celebrated with loud music and colors one weekend a year.
In a perfect world, I don't think groups like PFLAG - maybe even gay pride parades themselves - would be needed at all. Refusal to judge people based on their lifestyle, color, creed, and such would be a simple fact of life. Like friendship, like trees, like the fact that you didn't murder anyone last time you went out for grocieries.
It's like therapy.. the ultimate goal in going should be to heal enough that you don't need to go anymore.
Straight, bi, gay, or whatever, I'd be really interested in your thoughts on this.