May Grey Matters

My best friend Matt is coming for a visit this weekend. I really can't wait to see him. He was my best man at my wedding, and we have been constant companions since the day we met at the volunteer orientation for the GLBT film festival in Tucson in 2003. We've traveled together to San Francisco a few times, and even to Chicago. We made countless trips to visit San Diego when we were still living back home. We have discovered so many new adventures together over the years. He's one of those great friends that was ALWAYS on my side, even when he knew how very wrong I was. You know how they say "A friend will help you move. A BEST friend will help you move a body." Matt would be the first one on site with a shovel. Since we moved here, I don't see him very often. I miss him a great deal and I'm really looking forward to spending some time once again with him. As we close out the Merry Month of May, I can't help but reflect on the events of the past four weeks. We marched. We fought. We laughed and drank. We also cried a bit. And drank. We found out that our marriage is, in fact, legal. One of the 18,000 couples so often referred to in the news and blogosphere. Baby steps. I watched a couple of documentaries that really helped me put things into perspective. It's tough sometimes, for all of us. Tough economic times, political uncertainty. It's all out there. But after watching "Before Stonewall" and "After Stonewall" I realized that although we still have an uphill climb ahead of us, that we have indeed come a very long way. I watched the footage of young men being beaten by cops, thrown into police cars, their names published in the paper, all because they were gay. I saw our community organize through adversity. And as we were hit with the AIDS virus, how we banded together to take care of one another. Made quilts that grew over time, each frame marking another life, touring the country in memoriam. I was reminded how a brave few risked their safety and in some cases, their very lives, just so that the government would stand up and begin to address this disease that had hit our community so very hard. For every well known bashing, hate crime and murder, there are dozens that mainstream media has never covered. and we are driven together once again. Not fighting, but demanding that we be treated equally. I am so eternally grateful to have grown up in this generation, where so much progress has been made to make my existence safer and more enjoyable. Though we have many more battles to win, history has shown that we're capable. We will win. I won't give up. I can't. Here's to a great June. I'm so happy I get to bring in the new month with my best friend. (And now we drink)
Photo by Julie Edwards
www.jedwardsphotographer.com