When You Know That You're Loved, You Don't Need to Roam
This has probably been the most positive Pride Month I've seen in a long time...much more so than the mixed bags of last year and the year before, the status of GLBT issues in North America seems to be generally headed in the right direction.
The big remaining GLBT issue in the States at the moment--beyond the constant same-sex marriage debates, which I'm still grateful we got over in Canada some years ago now--is the slow march towards repealing the American military's outmoded-at-the-outset "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. (For the LiveJournal perspective of a former member of the American military, daytonward wrote a good breakdown a few weeks ago.) Where I assumed that obstructionism would be the order of the day, however, the US Congress has already made a surprising amount of progress on the matter, and I'm hoping that will all be taken care of by the end of the year.
I would never say that things are perfectly resolved now--the issue has already come up in Elena Kagan's US Supreme Court confirmation hearings, for example, and I won't get into the undertones of the speculation on her specific sexual orientation--but when even Christian groups are making more of a concerted effort to reach out and reconcile, it seems like more things are positive than not.
On a personal note, I made it out to Winnipeg's Pride March once again this year, and I once again had a fun (if rather random) time there. :) Given the way social connections work in Winnipeg, the key for me seems to be just showing up on my own and waiting until I run into people I already know...
The big remaining GLBT issue in the States at the moment--beyond the constant same-sex marriage debates, which I'm still grateful we got over in Canada some years ago now--is the slow march towards repealing the American military's outmoded-at-the-outset "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. (For the LiveJournal perspective of a former member of the American military, daytonward wrote a good breakdown a few weeks ago.) Where I assumed that obstructionism would be the order of the day, however, the US Congress has already made a surprising amount of progress on the matter, and I'm hoping that will all be taken care of by the end of the year.
I would never say that things are perfectly resolved now--the issue has already come up in Elena Kagan's US Supreme Court confirmation hearings, for example, and I won't get into the undertones of the speculation on her specific sexual orientation--but when even Christian groups are making more of a concerted effort to reach out and reconcile, it seems like more things are positive than not.
On a personal note, I made it out to Winnipeg's Pride March once again this year, and I once again had a fun (if rather random) time there. :) Given the way social connections work in Winnipeg, the key for me seems to be just showing up on my own and waiting until I run into people I already know...