LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
High CAMP |
by Brent Mundt |
Eleanor Digs Me! Of Roosevelts, Rainbows and Redemption
This historic inaugural, it seemed everyone had FDR in mind. But for us gay folk, I think it was Eleanor who saved the gay day. Yes, indeed, 48 hours before Barack began, openly gay Bishop Eugene Robinson and the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial precisely where the legendary Marian Anderson stood 70 years prior. That African American heroine sang proudly at her now-famous concert, invited there by then first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. My country 'tis of thee Sweet land of liberty Of thee I sing Land where my fathers died Land of the pilgrims' pride From every mountainside Let freedom ring Gay goose bumps sprouted when our boys so proudly and perfectly sang those exact words that Ms. Anderson had sungwith the first African American first family in the front row. During her time on earth, Eleanor knew it was only right and just that a black woman sing those words. She also knew thenas we let it be known nowthat there were some pansies among those pilgrimsand that one day an entire generation of them would stand a few steps below Abe, look beyond Washington's monument to a stage at our nation's capitol that would inaugurate America's first black president. Rainbows abounded. Yes, Eleanor digs us. With her to set the precedent, the "save in front of Abe" erased a puzzling Pastor Rick Warren slight the same way Eleanor fixed the Daughters of the American Revolution back in '39. An unclenched fist was the theme of Obama's inaugural address. And sure enough, the gay bishop shook hands with the gay basher. And the gay basher took his inflammatory rhetoric down from his website. The inaugural experience that followed was indescribablewith "black-and-white-gay-and-straight" mingling in integrated proportions of unprecedented homogenization. Hundreds of hugs, high-fives and knuckle bumps later, it's great to know we all walked history. So with Roosevelts, rainbows and redemption as the theme, here's a wish list for Unclenched Fists In Which We Can Believe: Will Rick Warren unclench his fist and shake hands with Sean Penn (a/k/a) Harvey Milk? Sean channeled Harvey, and in the most incredible showing of love for his fellow man, Penn became the teller of a very important history lesson. If you didn't cry over killed Milk, you aren't a homo sapien. Penn gave our civil rights movement a posthumous kick in the pants. Harvey was nine years old when Eleanor invited Ms. Anderson to the memorial. Maybe Rick and Sean could talk about what a 79 year old Harvey would have said watching the Gay Men's Chorus? Will Dick Cheney unclench his fist and shake hands with former congressman Dick Gephardt to discuss Gebhardt's open arms / open heart approach with his lesbian daughter Chrissy? Will Cheney write a check to PFLAG? Will he admit that the only WMD he could ever find was a Woman to Marry his Daughter? (sorry...civilly unionize his daughter.) Will Lynne Cheney shake hands with Cher and ask "if I could turn back time?" Would Lynne take back those GOP words that have hurt her daughter, Mary and be a mother like Cher is to Chastity? Will George W. Bush unclench his fist and shake hands with Karen Click, Southern Methodists University's GLBT club contact and invite her to his Bush library on the SMU campus to lecture on tolerance? Will openly gay U. S. Representative Barney Frank unclench his fist to shake hands with "closedly" gay former U. S. Representative Mark Foley and ask "Would you like some help being honest with yourself and the world?" Will Senator Larry Craig unclench and shake hands with Reverend Ted Haggard and say, "We really should treat our wives better. Let's start with the truth." The part of the Inauguration that spoke to inclusiveness was the closing Benediction by The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who ended his prayer with: When black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when red can get ahead, and when white will embrace what is right. So, I now unclench my fist and ask Reverend Lowery to simply add four little phrases: When gay is okay, when lesbos aren't low, when bi won't need to lie, and when trans acquires a few fans. Eleanor Rigby Picks up the rice in the church Where a wedding has been Lives in a dream Waits at the window Wearing the face that she keeps In a jar by the door Who is it for? All the lonely people Where do they all come from? All the lonely people Where do they all belong? Beatles lyric interpretations be damned, I'm going out on a lesbian limb here: could Eleanor Rigby be a lonely woman who never believed she could find a life partner? Could her jar be her closet? Where do all the lonely people belong? They belong on the national mall at the dawn of a new era an era led by President Barack Obama and a magical former first lady who digs me. And so I stood, fists unclenched, at noon on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. And in the land where my father died and the land of this big pansy's pride, from every mountainside, I heard freedom ring. Brent Mundt makes a living in Washington and a life in Rehoboth Beach. Email BrentM@agb.org. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 19, No. 01 February 06, 2009 |