Looking toward a proud future

On June 3, 2006 thirteen couples were wed at the annual mass Commitment Ceremony in Ferndale – more than in the event's two previous years.
On June 4, a straight couple brought their kids to Motor City Pride to give them a taste of diversity.
On June 5, a United States President who "doesn't give a shit about" equal marriage rights stood up against them during a public display of toadying to the religious right, prior to a similar mass ass-kissing of religious extremists by Republican members of the United States Senate on June 6.
Talk about living in both the best and the worst of times.
Mahatma Gandhi said, "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." We LGBTs can certainly relate. Especially now, when it seems like there have never been so many people fighting against our right to just live our lives as the majority of Americans do. From the President and Senate using our families as a political ploy to the ever-bigoted James Dobson to African-American preachers who seem to have forgotten how it feels to be hated just for existing, it's easy to feel besieged and wonder if there really is reason for hope.
That's why we begin this week's editorial as we do. In the midst of all the bigotry-inspired insanity, we need to report — and we all need to remember — the positive signs that abound as well.
Couples stood publicly in front of Ferndale City Hall to have their relationships recognized, albeit not legally, in the Mass Commitment Ceremony.
At least one straight couple that we know of brought their kids to Pride to counteract the anti-gay negativity that one of their children picked up at school.
George W. Bush is riding so low in the polls that the polls are riding him, leading a commentator on Andrew Sullivan's blog to remark on June 5, 2006, "When a hugely unpopular President rises and speaks with the megaphone of the Presidency about an issue that most consider to be deeply personal, he drags this issue from the realm of family, morals, and religious tradition, into the crass world of politics. By tying gay marriage to the fading star of contemporary 'conservatism,' the President has given many people who may otherwise be uncomfortable with the idea of same-sex relationships the concrete reason they need to change their minds."
In addition, there are enough gay dads raising children together that a pair of academics is doing a study about them. Oh, and 7,000 more people attended Motor City Pride this year than came out to celebrate in 2005.
Be proud. Be out. And take heart: we have not won, and we have a long way to go, but the best of times are, indeed, coming.