MY BIG RUBBER BUTT! Adventures of a transgender comic (part 8)

People were streaming into the club at a steady rate, as the siren of a fire-engine heading up 8th Avenue broke the relative calm. It looked like it would be a full-house tonight.

I knew I had a good 15-20 minutes before the show kicked-off, before they neeeded me downstairs.

I'd already checked-in with Rich Woods and Eric Hanson, who were busy scheduling the line-up. They knew I wouldn't stray far.

I was nervous, and I was restless. I needed to breath.

But, I wasn't afraid.


I looked at the buildings surrounding me, the cars going by, and the people on the street as they passed, and I imagined myself as Lauren Bacall.

And, I smiled. A crooked little smile.

The same smile I had when I approached Carson Kresley, at the after-party of the GLAAD Media Awards in New York City, just a few weeks before.

He was being corraled by a couple of fans, and he did not look at all comfortable.

I approached him, directly, moving across the room. I excused myself to those gathered, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Carson, I don't want an autograph, and I don't want to waste your time. All I want is a hug".

The conversation around us stopped. He smiled at me, and immediately threw his arms in the air. "Oh, honey", he said, putting his arms around me, "you are so easy!"

I squeezed him. I thanked him. And, I left him.


And That's how you make a memory, I thought to myself, standing in front of the club.

That's Why I wasn't afraid.

Me and my crooked smile just needed to breath.

Attitude is Everything.

Yesterday, was an historic day. For the first time in history, the sitting President of the United States, Barack OBama, stated publicly that gay and lesbian people should be allowed to marry.

Before you start the usual carping, the incessant criticisms and endless analysis of what this means -turning this moment into something smarmy and cynical- can we just take a breath and appreciate what just happened.

They were simple words.

They were smartly couched and eloquently delivered.

They were personal, they were honest, and they defined the issues in human terms.

"How do you look someone in the eye and tell them they are second-class citizens?"

I have seen a lot of people say a lot of things, in a variety of media, about the subject of gay-marriage, and, they all have a lot to say. I've heard more jokes on the subject of gay marriage then I care to -most lame. But, I've yet to hear anything that connects with me the way the Presidents words did.

By speaking about Gays and Lesbians and the struggle for equality, the President has elevated the LGBT community to the level of human beings, worthy of dignity and respect.

You can't take that back.

Pandora's box has been opened.

You can disagree. You can minimize it's importance in the overall schemme of things, doing what you can to diminish it. You can analyze, criticize, over-emphasize and lionize it. But, you cannot erase it. It is historic.

So, can I suggest -for just the briefest of moments- that we breath deeply, and take a moment to re-energize our hope for the future.

We'll have plenty of time to fall back into the abyss of depresssion and anger everytime a hate crime is reported, a child is beaten and a person is fired for being a human being.

We are continually bombarded with stories and narratives that turn our stomachs and break our hearts, and it's what we all fight against every day of our lives, but we can't continue if there aren't moments that we can point to that show that hope still exists.

I am proud of our President.

Not just for the words he spoke.

Because, after years of words that were filled with fear and hate, violence and intolerance, someone spoke words that we all yearn to hear. And, in so doing reminded us what our political and religious leaders have forgotten.

We all hope for a better tomorrow.

Otherwise, we truly are in Hell.