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gangrel_priMy earlier post today about the anti-bullying law proposal got me thinking about how much has changed since I came out more years ago than I care to contemplate.
I mean, seriously, when you look at it, gay rights have come one hell of a long way since 1969, 1981, 1990, hell even 2001. While gay rights have not progressed as far or as fast as the civil rights struggles of say, African-Americans, we still have made progress and continue to make progress even if we haven't fully realized all of our goals yet.
Don't believe me? Watch that 70's gem, The Boys in the Band. Billed as "A frank discussing about homosexuality", the characters are for the most part bad stereotypes and generally unhappy. "Show me a happy homosexual and I'll show you a dead homosexual" gets uttered at one point. Now compare that to some of the gay cinema that has been released this decade. The Broken Hearts Club, fer instance. No one dies of AIDS, most of the characters are out when the movie starts, no one dons drag... the characters are fully rounded individuals with problems just about everyone can relate to.
When I was a child, about the only openly gay character I can remember on TV was Billy Crystal's character on Soap. Who, as I recall, wound up married to a woman and having a child. Or Jim J. Bullock on Too Close for Comfort, in which I don't think his character was really ever acknowledged as gay. Or the jiggle fest that was Three's Company. Even there, the gay character wasn't even really gay. And most folks were watching it for the boobies on the blond.
Now, we have shows like Will & Grace and Brothers and Sisters and even Six Feet Under where the gay characters' sexuality is secondary to the plot line. Hell, I remember all the sniping about the character "Jack McFarland" on Will & Grace when it started up, but I think people finally realized that just about everyone knows someone just like Jack. We laughed with him and at his antics; we weren't laughing at his character because we thought ourselves to be superior to him. (I realize some folks point to Ellen as the starting point for TV comedy's gay inclusiveness, which it might have been. The problem I had with Ellen was that it wasn't that funny to begin with, and after she came out, it got even less funny. Not even Bruce Campbell's addition to the cast could save it.)
When I was coming out, gay rights were closely entwined with AIDS. We shifted to being able to serve our country in the military and now we've moved on to civil marriage.
We've gone from getting married to cover up our shameful desires to fighting to be able to marry the ones we truly love.
We've gone from closets to living rooms.
We've gone from being outcasts to being marginalized members of society. (Hey, it's still progress.)
We're now officially free to have sex without breaking a blue law.
While we as gay people are still not quite treated as equals, we're still a hell of a lot farther along the road to complete equality than we were. As much as I could wish things were moving faster, the changes that have occurred within the past 20 years or so should serve as a reassurance that we will eventually reach parity.
The fight for our rights is far from over. But we should acknowledge that we're still a hell of a lot better off then the generations that preceded us. Just as their struggles helped us get where we are now, our own struggles serve to pave a path for the generations of gay men and lesbians that will follow us.
I read with great interest and sadness the front page article titled "Bill aims to protect groups from bullying" in the December 29th edition of the News-Leader. It's kind of depressing to see that things have not changed that much in high schools since I came out about 15 years ago at my high school in Ohio. I remember all too well the torments and cat calls as I walked the halls from class to class. Thankfully, I also had a very good support network who stood by my side and with me during that period. And by the look of things, the new generation of gay youth are finding similar support and reasons for pride.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that perhaps I'm being too negative when I think about the progress gay rights have made since my own coming out days.
I mean, seriously, when you look at it, gay rights have come a long way since 1969, 1981, 1990, heck, even 2001. While gay rights have not progressed as far or as fast as the civil rights struggles of say, African-Americans, we still have made progress and continue to make progress even if we haven't fully realized all of our goals yet.
Don't believe me? Watch that 70's gem, The Boys in the Band. Billed as "A frank discussing about homosexuality", the characters are for the most part bad stereotypes and generally unhappy. "Show me a happy homosexual and I'll show you a dead homosexual" gets uttered at one point. Now compare that to some of the gay cinema that has been released this decade. The Broken Hearts Club, fer instance. No one dies of AIDS, most of the characters are out when the movie starts, no one dons drag... the characters are fully rounded individuals with problems just about everyone can relate to.
When I was a child, about the only openly gay character I can remember on TV was Billy Crystal's character on Soap. Who, as I recall, wound up married to a woman and having a child. Or Jim J. Bullock on Too Close for Comfort, in which I don't think his character was really ever acknowledged as gay. Or the jiggle fest that was Three's Company. Even there, the gay character wasn't even really gay.
Now, we have shows like Will & Grace and Brothers and Sisters and even Six Feet Under where the gay characters' sexuality is secondary to the plot line. I remember all the sniping about the character "Jack McFarland" on Will & Grace when it started up, but I think people finally realized that just about everyone knows someone just like Jack. We laughed with him and at his antics; we weren't laughing at his character because we thought ourselves to be superior to him. (I realize some folks point to Ellen as the starting point for TV comedy's gay inclusiveness, which it might have been. The problem I had with Ellen was that it wasn't that funny to begin with, and after she came out, it got even less funny. Not even Bruce Campbell's addition to the cast could save it.)
When I was coming out, gay rights were closely entwined with AIDS. We shifted to being able to serve our country in the military and now we've moved on to civil marriage.
We've gone from getting married to cover up our shameful desires to fighting to be able to marry the ones we truly love.
We've gone from closets to living rooms.
We've gone from being outcasts to being marginalized members of society. (Hey, it's still progress.)
We're now officially free to have intimate relations without breaking a blue law.
Many churches and temples that once condemned us have now opened their arms to us, invited us to join them in fellowship. We even have a denomination (Metropolitan Community Church) that was founded to give gays and lesbians a place to worship with a focus more on compassion than on judgment of others outside the congregation.
While we as gay people are still not quite treated as equals, we're still farther along the road to complete equality than we were. As much as I could wish things were moving faster, the changes that have occurred within the past 20 years or so should serve as a reassurance that we will eventually reach parity.
The fight for our rights is far from over. But we should acknowledge that we're still better off than the generations that preceded us. Just as their struggles helped us get to where we are now, our own struggles serve to pave a path for the generations of gay men and lesbians that will follow us.
I mean, seriously, when you look at it, gay rights have come one hell of a long way since 1969, 1981, 1990, hell even 2001. While gay rights have not progressed as far or as fast as the civil rights struggles of say, African-Americans, we still have made progress and continue to make progress even if we haven't fully realized all of our goals yet.
Don't believe me? Watch that 70's gem, The Boys in the Band. Billed as "A frank discussing about homosexuality", the characters are for the most part bad stereotypes and generally unhappy. "Show me a happy homosexual and I'll show you a dead homosexual" gets uttered at one point. Now compare that to some of the gay cinema that has been released this decade. The Broken Hearts Club, fer instance. No one dies of AIDS, most of the characters are out when the movie starts, no one dons drag... the characters are fully rounded individuals with problems just about everyone can relate to.
When I was a child, about the only openly gay character I can remember on TV was Billy Crystal's character on Soap. Who, as I recall, wound up married to a woman and having a child. Or Jim J. Bullock on Too Close for Comfort, in which I don't think his character was really ever acknowledged as gay. Or the jiggle fest that was Three's Company. Even there, the gay character wasn't even really gay. And most folks were watching it for the boobies on the blond.
Now, we have shows like Will & Grace and Brothers and Sisters and even Six Feet Under where the gay characters' sexuality is secondary to the plot line. Hell, I remember all the sniping about the character "Jack McFarland" on Will & Grace when it started up, but I think people finally realized that just about everyone knows someone just like Jack. We laughed with him and at his antics; we weren't laughing at his character because we thought ourselves to be superior to him. (I realize some folks point to Ellen as the starting point for TV comedy's gay inclusiveness, which it might have been. The problem I had with Ellen was that it wasn't that funny to begin with, and after she came out, it got even less funny. Not even Bruce Campbell's addition to the cast could save it.)
When I was coming out, gay rights were closely entwined with AIDS. We shifted to being able to serve our country in the military and now we've moved on to civil marriage.
We've gone from getting married to cover up our shameful desires to fighting to be able to marry the ones we truly love.
We've gone from closets to living rooms.
We've gone from being outcasts to being marginalized members of society. (Hey, it's still progress.)
We're now officially free to have sex without breaking a blue law.
While we as gay people are still not quite treated as equals, we're still a hell of a lot farther along the road to complete equality than we were. As much as I could wish things were moving faster, the changes that have occurred within the past 20 years or so should serve as a reassurance that we will eventually reach parity.
The fight for our rights is far from over. But we should acknowledge that we're still a hell of a lot better off then the generations that preceded us. Just as their struggles helped us get where we are now, our own struggles serve to pave a path for the generations of gay men and lesbians that will follow us.
I read with great interest and sadness the front page article titled "Bill aims to protect groups from bullying" in the December 29th edition of the News-Leader. It's kind of depressing to see that things have not changed that much in high schools since I came out about 15 years ago at my high school in Ohio. I remember all too well the torments and cat calls as I walked the halls from class to class. Thankfully, I also had a very good support network who stood by my side and with me during that period. And by the look of things, the new generation of gay youth are finding similar support and reasons for pride.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that perhaps I'm being too negative when I think about the progress gay rights have made since my own coming out days.
I mean, seriously, when you look at it, gay rights have come a long way since 1969, 1981, 1990, heck, even 2001. While gay rights have not progressed as far or as fast as the civil rights struggles of say, African-Americans, we still have made progress and continue to make progress even if we haven't fully realized all of our goals yet.
Don't believe me? Watch that 70's gem, The Boys in the Band. Billed as "A frank discussing about homosexuality", the characters are for the most part bad stereotypes and generally unhappy. "Show me a happy homosexual and I'll show you a dead homosexual" gets uttered at one point. Now compare that to some of the gay cinema that has been released this decade. The Broken Hearts Club, fer instance. No one dies of AIDS, most of the characters are out when the movie starts, no one dons drag... the characters are fully rounded individuals with problems just about everyone can relate to.
When I was a child, about the only openly gay character I can remember on TV was Billy Crystal's character on Soap. Who, as I recall, wound up married to a woman and having a child. Or Jim J. Bullock on Too Close for Comfort, in which I don't think his character was really ever acknowledged as gay. Or the jiggle fest that was Three's Company. Even there, the gay character wasn't even really gay.
Now, we have shows like Will & Grace and Brothers and Sisters and even Six Feet Under where the gay characters' sexuality is secondary to the plot line. I remember all the sniping about the character "Jack McFarland" on Will & Grace when it started up, but I think people finally realized that just about everyone knows someone just like Jack. We laughed with him and at his antics; we weren't laughing at his character because we thought ourselves to be superior to him. (I realize some folks point to Ellen as the starting point for TV comedy's gay inclusiveness, which it might have been. The problem I had with Ellen was that it wasn't that funny to begin with, and after she came out, it got even less funny. Not even Bruce Campbell's addition to the cast could save it.)
When I was coming out, gay rights were closely entwined with AIDS. We shifted to being able to serve our country in the military and now we've moved on to civil marriage.
We've gone from getting married to cover up our shameful desires to fighting to be able to marry the ones we truly love.
We've gone from closets to living rooms.
We've gone from being outcasts to being marginalized members of society. (Hey, it's still progress.)
We're now officially free to have intimate relations without breaking a blue law.
Many churches and temples that once condemned us have now opened their arms to us, invited us to join them in fellowship. We even have a denomination (Metropolitan Community Church) that was founded to give gays and lesbians a place to worship with a focus more on compassion than on judgment of others outside the congregation.
While we as gay people are still not quite treated as equals, we're still farther along the road to complete equality than we were. As much as I could wish things were moving faster, the changes that have occurred within the past 20 years or so should serve as a reassurance that we will eventually reach parity.
The fight for our rights is far from over. But we should acknowledge that we're still better off than the generations that preceded us. Just as their struggles helped us get to where we are now, our own struggles serve to pave a path for the generations of gay men and lesbians that will follow us.
