What a beautiful new day.......

Friday, June 26, 2015, in Washington. 

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

 

 

What a beautiful sight.

Yesterday was such a complicated day.  When I heard the news I cried.  I'm at an age now where I deeply miss so many of my old friends who didn't survive the first wave of the AIDS epidemic.  We should all be growing older together.  They should be here to see this day.  This victory is theirs as much as any of the LGBTQIA folks celebrating in the Castro right now and throughout ever state, county, city and suburb in this country -- BIG and small.  Urban and rural.  Marriage is an equal right for ALL.

Here's to you Miss Bette (fabulous, grand Queen who gave me my first package of eyeshadow and taught me the mantra of "blend-blend-blend!" and had endless artistry with color palettes that were magic for women with beautiful brown skin).....Mikey and MoMo (foreverJoined at the hip and heart)....punk rock Ratzzo and metalhead

Davey....Tim...Carl....Uncle Milo....sweet Rico and far too many other friends I lost to AIDS between 1981 and 1995.  They should all be here celebrating -- and planning their weddings.  How many of you out there can say you remember a time where there were so many funerals happening, you kept the same outfit cleaned and ready for the next one that might be just a week away?  I went through a period where I was so ashamed of saying I was tired of going to funerals.  I was overwhelmed, depressed and filled with so much bitterness and anger about the inaction and bigotry I saw against gay men suffering with HIV and AIDS.  I became very aware of the struggle for gay rights as a kid growing up in 1970's Chicago.  I used to hear so many "what if" conversations on BOTH sides of the issue -- from the paranoid, resistant religious zealots who were quick to sing the praises of Anita Bryant and railed against "Adam and Steve", to the incredible LGBT folks I began to count among my beloved friendships who just wanted to love who they loved and live equal lives like any other person on earth.

Finally....after all of the fighting and political toil...tears, brutal assaults and bloodshed...."what if" is finally here.  And what a beautiful, groundbreaking day it is to say....

I remember the day the supreme court made same-sex marriage the law of the land.   

Not 25 years from now....

or 50 years from now....or 100. 

but TODAY....June 26, 2015.

What a turn....to think back to the time when one used to say there were so many funerals happening you could hardly think....AND NOW -- to be in a time where one might find themselves amidst soooo many weddings happening you might overload on receiving lines, wedding cake and the chicken dance!???

What a beautiful new day. 

                                      

                            ****Have a Happy Pride!***