HoYay*

So, as you've probably come to realize, and hopefully accept, I'm a liberal.

In fact, I'm a voted-for-Kucinich-in-the-primary liberal.  My colleague at dinner the other night commented that he's liberal, but I'm even further left than he is.  Left-adjacent, he called it.

I think you could basically summarize my views as "Legalize It" and by "It", I mean the right to choose, recreational marijuana, gay marriage, equal rights, affordable health care, and so on.

The gay marriage one seems to be top of mind these days, since New York just legalized it.

Which means, six down, 44 to go...

I have a handful of gay and lesbian friends.  Some in relationships, some single.  I think, and I hope, it's only a matter of time before they can get married in every state.  But only if they want to.

Now, because I live in Tennessee, my gay friends here may be waiting awhile.  It's sometimes difficult to remember that I'm living in one of the small blue areas in a red, red state.    But we're often referred to as the Buckle of the Bible Belt.  And I know that's true because I pass at least four churches on my way to the liquor store.

That's a joke, except that it's true.

Nashville is also home to Lifeway - a Gigantor Christian Publishing House.  One of the many, many things they do is write curriculum for Vacation Bible School.   It's the intersection of religion and commerce, and it isn't pretty.

So, anyway - they're a major employer here in the area, and as you may imagine, they're not exactly gay-friendly.  And they're also not alone.  Many people who live in Music City, USA aren't as left-adjacent as I.

I suspect I may hear some anti-gay, pro-religion criticism of the latest news out of New York.  But I'm ready.

Straight from a group of Utah based Humanists, I give you:

Why Can't I Own a Canadian?  - this is possibly the funniest counter to the "sodomy is an abomination" I've ever read.

So it's pride month, and I am proud to be straight, but not narrow**.

Or, as one of my gay friends called me the other day, "a breeder***".

Yeah, that's not exactly accurate, and I didn't like it, but surely, he's been called far worse.

So I can live with being a breeder - as long as I can also be child-free****.



*Slang for gay-friendly; a contraction of Homosexuality, yay!

**Back when I was at UGA, Straight But Not Narrow was a club, an auxillary to the LGBSU. The original HoYays.  Detractors called them "Straight But Not Really".  I used this point in an interview I did for a girl named Catherine for her production class.  Sorry, Catherine.

***This reminds me of a conversation I had with my sister once as to why my parents' gay neighbors didn't seem interested in talking with her.  I owe her an apologize.  Words can hurt.

****Child-free is my preferred term for our situation.  Childless would indicate that we didn't have children but wanted them - that we had less than what we wanted.  Child-free indicates that we made a decision, and as a result of that decision, we are free to do what we want.  Semantics.


This damn things needs better footnoting options.


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