I’m A Rubbish Gay
I am. My drift away from gay bars and clubs started years ago, and since I entered into connubial bliss my motto on the subject has tended to be “why bother when we can stay at home and rewatch Doctor Who?”
My gay political sensibilities atrophied along with the credible gay press in my home country (don’t argue, it’s all glossy magazines instead of newspapers these days, and the once proud Gay Times has rebranded as GT and seems to feel it can only compete by putting photos of half naked young (always young) men on the cover).
The last thing I felt strongly about was being able to marry, and oh look, that’s sorted.
So I’ve become a bit rubbish at the whole gay thing.
I knew this anyway, but it came slamming home to me when I realised that I’d completely forgotten that this past weekend it was the Folsom Street Fair. How that realisation hit me will be the subject of a posting this evening, but trust me, it’s very gay and I’d completely forgotten about it.
When I’ve been in the US over the last few years I’ve tended to pick up The Advocate magazine, which continues to be a serious, campaigning example of the gay press, and there was a story they ran earlier this year that I intended to write long and seriously on and which to my shame I let slide.
But I think (and hope) that living in this wonderful city might be the making of me again. Not in the barfly way, but in the political way. Because not only is this country still lagging on matters that are extraordinarily important to me, but right now this city and its parent state are facing a specific issue that threatens gay marriage.
Background: After the minor furore Mayor Gavin Newsome caused in 2004 by instructing the clerk of the city council to issue marriage licences for same-sex couples (eventually halted and retrospectively cancelled), the next stage in the process was that earlier this year, the California Supreme Court declared a ban on same-sex marriage contrary to the state’s equal protection laws.
The predictable response on the part of those opposed is Proposition 8. This is one of those propositions which has arisen in various states over the last few years which basically says “no equality for you benders!” and seeks explicitly to make law which renders same-sex union illegal in California by inserting a clause in the constitution which states “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California”.
So I’m getting involved. I’m signing up to help (at the NoOnProp8 website), and am feeling energised about things in a way I haven’t felt about gay politics in years.
My return to being a good gay starts here.
September 29th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
You missed Folsom? For shame. Somewhere there are pictures of me at various Folsoms along the way…….
September 30th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
This will be the last one I miss while I live in this city. This I swear. Annoyingly it was the big 25th Anniversary bash too.