It's almost June....

Which means Gay Pride month. Many of the longtime readers on this blog know that I have a big thing for this time of year. A lot comes from the fact that my birthday fell exactly on Gay Pride the year I came out - to me that was not only ironic but very special. Though in reality I am very big into the Pride month because of what it represents.

I'm sure a lot of people groan when I go on my Pride tirades. But as many people have aptly commented in the Tales of the City post, gay history is EXTREMELY important. As a newly out gay man (well 4 years to me is still newly out) I'm still trying to learn as much as I can about myself, our community and our history. I think many of the people who commented on the Tales of the City post are exactly correct in thinking that many young gay men these days are apathetic about the past. That is really sad - we don't have a long history in this country (public history at least - the closet only really opened after the Stonewall protests in my opinion) and isn't it pathetic that some queens can't take even 5 minutes to consider 30 something years of history? I don't think it is much to ask.

I didn't mean to rant as much in this post. I just got to work and felt like dashing off a post as I read the last few comments (which I REALLY appreciate - makes me happy to see something I wrote got people to post their thoughts). But I will say, as I have been discovering gay history more and more of late (after watching the documentaries Before Stonewall and After Stonewall etc) I am very disheartened with people of my gay generation.

If I may generalize, I'm sick of hearing people crab and complain about gay marriage when it is socially popular - and then NOT vote, volunteer, donate money, send letter etc. Nobody seems to know anything worthwhile (like current issues, history, you name it) but everyone wants to party and dress oh so super chic. Everyone is up in arms about a new gay bar being protested but think you can get someone to call an elected official about workplace discrimination? Yeah good luck.

I don't want to demean the efforts of the many people who DO take part in the movement, are thoughtful and appreciate history but it is going to take more than a few of us to sustain and progress the movement. And I thank the many who have graciously donated to some of my favorite organizations like Lambda Legal, GLAAD, NGLTF, Rainbow World Fund and others.

Rather than just crabbing and complaining here (oh well sometimes it happens) I renew my plea to get your friends to rent After Stonewall (you can get it on Netflix or Amazon.com) (Before Stonewall was good but After was much easier to digest and better produced - still see it but I'd start with After first) and talk about it. Trust me, it is time well spent...

And thanks for all the reading recommendations - I think I have my poolside reading list all set-up this summer now :-) And thank you all for the sincere and thoughtful commentary, please feel free to comment away I love it and I learn a lot from it!