Getting an early start... and reflecting on MLK over an egg sandwich

So today is going to be a wild day. First day of the semester and classes for our students (my class starts next Monday) plus a faculty meeting and reams of paperwork to finish. So of course I was awake at like 6:05am. So I got up, made an egg sandwich (using eggbeaters, some peppers, cheese, Jones ham slices (Canadian bacon!) and whole grain bread) and it was delish. I made enough so that I could freeze the egg, ham and cheese portion so I could just reheat in the mornings to come and slap on toast (Men's Health gave me that idea!). Easy healthy breakfast = yum.

But before I shower I thought I'd check out a few blogs though I need to stop so I get to work early... you know how distracting the blogosphere is...

I was reading a story over at Ziggy's lounge. It's about how a young friend came to respect and accept gay people after having oh so many pre-conceived notions about them. It got me thinking as I commented on his blog (so many of my posts here come from comments I start writing elsewhere).

It's just beyond me some days why there aren't equal rights and equal respect in this country.

Yesterday was MLK day - on this day you'd be hard pressed to find someone (though I sadly know they exist) who couldn't recite the speech, say how wonderful a man he was etc. One day out of every year it's "hands-across-America" and seemingly anyone living at the time King was alive has some story about how they learned the words to "We Shall Overcome" by heart etc.

Yet people seem to have stopped listening... Everyone is guilty. A lot of people think that King stood only for black rights - wrong, he was for all people. He wasn't anti-gay like so many of the religious "leader" (and I use that term loosely) types today. In fact one of his closest and most beloved friends and advisors was a gay man - Bayard Rustin . His wife is an ardent supporter of GLBT rights - easily recognizing the struggle of black Americans as the same struggle GLBT Americans face. Of course - even there we can still see the struggle being faced - as King's youngest daughter seems to have strayed off her father's path - as recently as yesterday...

So ironic that we as Americans (Bush administration and Christian right) go off touting "freedom" and "liberty" and "justice for all" when bigotry is not only openly tolerated in the US society as a whole but it is written into both Federal and State law. Remember this is a moral battle for God - so defaming GLBT people openly on the Senate floor or the from the pulpit is A-ok, as long as you caveat it and say that you're not a bigot... Again it's a case of "Gays and people in bestiality are one and the same, God blessem'!" add a "God blessem' at the end of any defamatory statement and you're cool!

But reading those stories like Ziggy's are heartening. It's hard not to become so hardened and cynical. We need these stories to combat the negative images and tales we are bombarded with constantly as GLBT people.

I have a friend in Holland - straight guy. He's amazing. He hugs you, signs his emails "Love" and yet is straight as an arrow - unflappable in his sexuality (he's def. a stud and a lady's man) yet somehow still able to respect and like me for who I am without ceding his manhood or giving up his "morals"... Amazing those damn Dutchers! How did they get to be so wise and advanced?! Just makes me glad that ik studeer het Nederlands elke week!

Time to shower now - oops once again I have frittered away a good deal of time on the blog - but I'll still get in early and now I've gotten my malaise about MLK day out of my system.

Have a good day people! Do something for equality today - anything, write a quick letter, talk to a friend about it but we gotta start doin' something!