It is certainly an interesting time to be gay. just as we did two years ago, our community will spend the weeks leading up to Gay Pride hoping for the Supreme Court to issue a favorable ruling for marriage equality.
Their 2013 decisions paved the way for gay couples to receive the federal benefits of marriage and for the return of gay marriage in California. This year’s decisions may finally strike down marriage bans across the nation.
The cases before the Supreme Court are just one measure of the lighting speed with which gay rights have advanced recently. Another is the reaction to Indiana’s law supporting LGBT discrimination. It elicited a national outcry, including boycotts from celebrities, corporations and other state governments. I remember when such a swift, widespread reaction would have been unthinkable.
Our positive presence in the cultural conversation also continues to grow. A great example is Bruce Jenner publicly coming out as transgender. His conversation with Diane Sawyer was emotional and eye-opening — to people both outside of and within the community who had never considered some of the complexities of his situation.
It’s tempting to hope these signs of rapid change mean that in 10 or 15 years, people won’t think twice about whether LGBT people should have the right to marry or adopt or be protected against discrimination. However, history has shown us that legal victories are not a finish line but the start of another journey. We will continue to struggle to have those legally-guaranteed rights recognized and continue to face push-back from small-minded people on the wrong side of history.
In that spirit, we present you with a Pride Issue that we hope represents some of our community’s diversity and the challenges we continue to face. We consider gender issues with our look at TV programs like The Prancing Elites and Becoming Us. We look at how people living with HIV are represented in our conversation with Daniel Franzese and with our MetroHIV writer Scott Kramer. We also touch on race and the LGBT community in our interviews with Tituss Burgess and Mo’Nique.
But even as we continue to face diverse challenges, we do so with a spirit of hope. Just a few years ago, our cover guy Steve Grand might not have been embraced by the mainstream as an openly gay artist; today he’s a breakout success with gay and straight fans alike. On that positive note, we wish you a happy and healthy Pride from all of us here at Metrosource.
Last modified: July 27, 2017
