Are we equal yet?

My friends are some of the best people in the world. They’re a group of individuals I take great pride in, and I am constantly humbled by their respective talents, open-mindedness and passion. From Bloomington to San Francisco, lovely individuals host events such as Eroticon, part fetish-ball, part education. All in all, I’m lucky. So lucky, in fact, that if I wanted to, I could retreat into the safety of these utopian situations and deny that a world exists that is not so enlightened and accepting.\nIn the midst of National Coming Out Day and preparing for Eroticon, so immersed in all the feel-good community vibes and solidarity that come along with such events, I’ve been overly elated and proud to the point of distraction over what appears to be a grand level social evolution and acceptance. Sadly, the level of acceptance I want so desperately to exist in this country is simply not yet a reality.\nI am sure my inappropriate level of joy stems from the thankfulness I feel to be living in a time where such events can occur without incident. I am thankful that I can participate in and advertise these events without any fear of harm to my person. It’s truly amazing that, after decades of struggle and violence, we can have public events and pride festivals and fly gigantic rainbow flags and that major corporations almost ubiquitously support domestic partners’ rights.\nDespite these positive displays of freedom and allied support, the majority of the country still treats the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community like second-class citizens. This is apparent in the speech used by pundits and politicians in talking about the community, like how homosexuality is still referred to as a lifestyle choice and separate-but-equal framing goes mostly unquestioned. It is apparent in the fact that none of the legitimate candidates support unconditional marriage rights, and there are not enough hetero-allies for that type of ignorance to negatively affect the politicians’ chances.\nAs long as they are continually treated as sub-human, the GLBT community has no real autonomy. They have to wait for the acquiescence of enlightened hetero-allies in order to be afforded basic human dignity. They must suffer the pedantic writings of conservative pundits who make them out to be dangerous social deviants. They must constantly function under the weight of the inextricable relationship between ancient faith and public policy that still drives this country. Their daily lives are colored with the pressure of constantly having to defend their right simply to pursue family.\nOn the whole, the treatment of GLBT individuals by the government, the media and the public is shameful and pathetic. It reflects our culture’s fundamental acceptance of an ethical system that allows the conceptualization of any marginal group as less than human. It is this disturbing morality that must be weeded out of our collective consciousness in pursuit of actual equality and enlightenment, because this persistent bigotry is stifling the heart of America and the political process. It’s time for social evolution. It’s time to \nmove on.