What a Wonderful World..

I went on a date this past sunday with a guy who was around my age, which is kind of amazing as I don't meet too many guys who have been around for a while and remained happy and optimistic, so it was pretty fun. We didn't have sex, we just walked around the neighborhood and talked. It was a beautiful day, 62 degrees. then, he had to go meet a client so I walked him to his vehicle, which was parked in front of my studio and we kissed, right there on the street, in front of my studio in the neighborhood where I live, in broad daylight. It was really nice, I got all tingly so we did it again, and again and it felt great....and nothing happened....... nobody laughed at us, no one yelled "FAGGOTT" people walked right past us minding their business....the world really has changed and I love it.

It seems people are so used to the idea of same sex couples that to be against it or shout out something inflammatory would just be....weird, which is great! I'm seeing a level of acceptance that I never dreamed imaginable and I'm continually finding little bits of internalized homphobia hiding in little dark corners that I'm working on eradicating.

I still remember when Bill Clinton passed "Don't ask, Don't tell" I thought that was pretty good, maybe the best we could hope for. And then I started dating a former marine who received a dishonerable discharge because he was seen coming out of a gay bar in Korea.....and it didn't seem so fair to me. I saw gay characters in books and movies hide their lovers from their families and I thought that was ok, it was understandable even in this day and age and then I heard real life stories of some of the indignities partners had to endure and all of a sudden that dosn't seem ok to me and to a whole lot of other people in this world.

I watched the film "The Help" recently and I was reminded of the way racisim was normal, accepted behavior in this country when I was a little kid and then thought about all of the changes that have happened there and I love that too.