I stopped singing the National Anthem after Bush Lite was re-elected in 2004. Where I used to stand proudly and sing the National Anthem at ball games and such, heck, I even performed it for local sports teams on a couple of occasions, I didn’t feel like I fit in with the whole American thing we had going on during the second term of the Bush Administration.
Last night’s victory for President-Elect Obama changed that feeling considerably last night. However, there is a bittersweet element to the news today: California’s apparent vote to constitutionally ban gay marriage kept my “good vibe” from going all the way to the finish line. Because of this there is still a part of me that feels like an outsider. I suppose as a loud and proud gay man I will always be an outsider. I won’t stand for being merely ‘tolerated’. I don’t even like the word ‘acceptance’; I don’t choose to accept heterosexual people, why should they choose to accept gay men and women? It’s just the way it is. I am who I am and I’m not going anywhere, getting any quieter or going on the “down low”. So I guess that makes me a bit of an outsider. I know that my personality and assorted quirks will also make me seem somewhat eccentric, but even eccentrics should be granted the same rights as everyone else. At least I’m in good company.
Don’t get me wrong, I am once again very excited about the future of our country. I believe our new President is able and willing to fix the mess that the last administration has created. Will it happen quickly? No. But it will happen. I have no doubt about that.
And I will once again proudly sing the National Anthem.
