Stonewall Anniversary

From a friend, Dennis D, with one perspective:

Well, it's Pride again and time for my annual Pride message. (Okay, so
maybe I haven't always done an annual Pride message, but let's pretend I
have...you know...like The Queen on Christmas Day.)

In the years since Stonewall there have been many heady victories for
the gay community...repeal of sodomy laws; civil unions in Vermont; gay
marriage in Massachusetts, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, et al;
scads of openly gay elected officials; gay-themed TV shows and movies.
And this year there was Brokeback Mountain and we got to watch two
humpy cowboys get it on bigger than life on the silver screen.

But still the state of our world these days leaves me sad. Evil, vile
forces of bigotry entrenched in our White House, Congress and Supreme
Court. A war fought and thousand of lives sacrificed in order for the
wealthy and powerful to gain even more wealth and power. Rightwing
religious fanatics trying to chip away at our hard earned rights by
writing bigotry into our constitution.

But then it also occurs to me, that in addition to being the 37th
anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, it's also the 37th anniversary of
the death of perhaps the greatest talent of the 20th century. And like
many gay men, I wonder "What would Judy do?" And I know the
answer....she'd wipe the tears away, get out her ruby-encrusted tap
shoes and sing a happy song.

So this weekend, in the words of the character Roger Elizabeth De Bris
from Broadway's "The Producers" (yes, boys and girls, there is indeed a
showtune reference for every situation in life): "Keep it gay. Keep it
gay. Keep it GAY!!!"

"Forget your troubles, come on get happy,
Come on and chase all your cares away."

"Cause when you're smilin', keep on smilin'
The whole world smiles with you."