Textphish

On a blistery cold Saturday morning, I woke up and thought, I’m going to do something meaningful. It might not be meaningful to some people (my manager, a gay man, told me right to my face that what I planned to do was pointless, stupid, and “against God’s law”), and it might not catch the eyes of the mainly-GOP state I reside in, but to me, it means everything. I got up, I bundled up, I took out my umbrella, made a sign, printed out a map, and drove an hour in the rain with bald tires to downtown Louisville. I fish-tailed once, but got control. (Don’t worry, I’m off to get new tires today!)

With a handful of others I stood on one of the street corners by City Hall for my civil rights. It rained the entire time, but a little rain meant nothing to us; we jumped up and down and cheered, chanted what do we want? Equal rights! for what seemed like forever. We waved the rainbow in the form of scarves, hats, umbrellas, flags, and whatever else seemed gay enough. We held our signs and shouted and heard our voices bounce powerfully off the walls of high skyscrapers. The weather was poor, but our spirits most certainly were not.

We were met with scrutiny from some people; surprise and confusion from others…but the most repeated reaction to our protest was support. Cars passed and drivers laid on their horns, shouting and yelling and cheering us on. They rolled their windows down and whooped, they chanted with us, smiled at us, and congratulated us. It was surprising and very heartwarming. I felt accomplished.

Here are the news broadcasts that featured our rally. If you look hard, I’m there in the front, wearing a hat and pea coat and shouting.
WHAS 11 Broadcast
WLKY Broadcast

I didn’t know I was on TV until today, so it’s kind of exciting. I don’t watch TV normally; we don’t have cable and I don’t care for regular programming unless it has to do with Daniel Craig shooting people and banging hot chicks at the same time.

I’m proud of myself, and of all of my peers that stood out with me, wanting badly to be recognized for who and what we are, for love. I’m proud of the initiative we as a national community took to raise awareness. I’m most of all proud that we, even in dangerous places, were brave enough to show up.

It makes me, more than ever before, proud to be gay. I hope that our cause reaches towards everyone.