Adam Sunny Flanders

I went to Portland Pride yesterday with my boyfriend Dean, and it was clear that times are changing fast. The events felt more natural – it was no big deal. There were no counter protestors, no Christian Civic League members harassing us. The Press Herald reported on the record numbers of people in attendance, yet there was not the slightest mention of strife or concern. It was as if we had assimilated into Maine’s culture.

6 years ago, when I spoke before the Judiciary in favor of the anti-discrimination bill, things were a lot different. Today we live in a safer and more accepting society for GLBT individuals. Recently, a Florida high school elected a transgender student as their prom queen and a gay student as king. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed. We have the most GLBT-supportive president in history, and he proclaimed June National LGBT Pride Month. Just yesterday the United Nations passed a resolution to address international violations against GLBT people the world over.

We are so close to nationwide marriage equality. Another Federal judge has upheld Judge Walker’s ruling and set precedent by showing that Judge Walker’s sexual orientation does not create any bias for his decision in favor of same-sex marriage. Meanwhile DOMA continues to be ruled unconstitutional and remains virtually unsupported in the Legislature. Polls show a majority of Americans favor same-sex marriage.

It’s partly because I’m living in Portland, but when I walk down the streets with Dean, nobody yells out “faggots!” or even takes a second look. Nobody cares. It’s as if we’ve already won. I know we still have a way to go, but I can’t help feeling that we’re nearly there. All I want is to just live my life.

BTW, Happy Father’s Day everyone! 😉

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 19th, 2011 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.