A Gay Dream

I'm not sure if it was all the marching from Sunday, or maybe it was the wine from the night before -- but I had a fantastical Gay Dream-- A bit of a fantasia if you will:

George W. Bush is sitting at his desk and his aid comes in. The aid is dressed in drag as Diana Ross and says:

"Well Mr. President, we've got a really interesting thing for you today. How would you feel about speaking at the HRC national Gala this year?  What do you think? All of your favorites are gonna be there. They have Taco's and..."

George W takes a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread and says saucily, "HRC- Hillary Rodham Clinton has a gala?  Well hecks na'. I ain't speakin' at that there Gala." Wiping a bit of jelly off of his tie. "Why in the heck would I go to that?"

Aid striking a pose on the edge of the big desk says,  "No Sir. HRC does not stand for Hillary Rodham Clinton."

George W. takes another bite of his sandwich,  " Yes it does. H- is for Hillary. R  is for Rodham and C is for Clinton- Don't tell me I know how to spell- I gotta 566 on my Verbal."

The aid, doing a little shimmy, " Well sir, you are right. HRC can stand for Hillary Rodham Clinton, but it also stands for Human Rights Campaign."

"Is it them folks that's tryin' to mess with Guantanamo again?"

Doing a split, the aid yells " It's the Gays sir!  The Gays!"

George W. screams in horror and passes out. Lady Gaga ascends from a web in the ceiling that was being spun by a version of myself and some of my friends, the paparazzi song plays and she takes a picture of the drag queen cradling the president's head in her lap.

I wake up.

So, this dream is up for interpretation. Diana Ross, well I don't really need any interpretation for that. She's fabulous. But let's look at this web thing. I Googled Dream Interpretation and found a site and then plugged in Spider Web.  Apparently it means that we will be rewarded for out hard work -- recognition for a difficult task.

So on the gayest weekend that I've had in a long time I found this dream comforting and a great reminder of where we are in our struggle for equality.  HRC wasn't even a notion to our last president, and even a shiny drag queen couldn't have gotten him to come to speak at a gala for the largest LGBT group who lobbies on behalf of the gays, even if they were serving Taco's and playing "Wake Up Little Susie." The man that was in the White House just 10 months ago could not have been dragged into the convention center last Saturday-- crossing protestors who were calling him a homophobe and other protesters who were chanting, "God hates Gays Mr. President -- don't give in."

Straights for Equality at the NEM

But on Saturday, I sat in a room full of penguins and watched as the President took to the podium in front of an audience that was suspicious, doubtful, worried and skeptical. Even as I sat there, I noticed my own skepticism creeping into my body-- my arms were folded and my head was tilted to the side in that, ' Hmmm, what he gonna say? kind of way...' So, I took my little HRC pen off of the table so that I could take notes!

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(continued)

As he spoke it became clear that this President is on our side. He said so; I believe him. This is a President who spoke with certainty and conviction about equality and the inevitability of progress -- He said so; I believe him. He also said that he didn't want us to let up and that he needs to be held accountable. We won't and we will. This is a President who knows that our patience is not what is expected in this instance. He's right, and I needed to hear that. But he also said --and this was the take away for me - that he can't do it alone. He's right and he won't.

Kids for Equality at NEM

It's not about this one man. It's about all of us. It's about the web.  It's about the constant sewing and spinning. We have to weave the web -- in our communities, in our families, in our churches, in our synagogues, in our schools, in the voting booth with our congress folk, at the bodega, at the Piggly Wiggly, at our jobs... Everywhere in our communities-- our web of influence -- and we will be awarded. Out of our web will come equality and possibly Lady Gaga -- cause she does like a good theatric!

Read more of Gloria's witticisms.