By - Not Gleeky enough to have a Glee back pack but enough to con my spouse into taking me to the Glee on stage extravaganza here in Silicon Valley this week.
It was a life changing experience, really.
First, I don’t know why this surprised me but it did. Look who was there. The fluorescent sign people [members of the Westburo "God Hates Fags" Baptist Church] out in front proclaiming their holiness to the tweens and their parents, grandparents and all 15,000 Gleeks.
Whatever. They were ignored except for a certain labor activist wearing a Hawaiian rainbow T-shirt who loudly let them know they weren’t welcome. (This is one of the many reasons I married her.) All the teenagers were too excited to see their idols to care about the apparent idolatry they were being exposed to inside.
You know Glee is, to say the least, gay friendly. This crowd, was gay insane. We had women probably a little younger than us, in their 40’s who were screaming and hollering for Blaine and the Warblers. I mean shrill like the Beatles screaming. Gay Curt? Oh my GAWD, the screams were unbelievable!
When they sang “Born That Way,” the place went nuts. We saw a little 10 year old, dancing joyfully, by himself and singing along. With the cast in their T-shirts, Curt’s saying “I Like Boys” and Santana sporting her LEBANESE declaration, I had the life changing moment.
WE are winning this battle for equality. Both of us were crying because we knew, we KNEW, that these kids and now their parents were never ever going to vote for a Prop 8. When Curt and Blaine were on stage as a young gay couple and the shriek volume goes up to the-roof-is-coming off, we have won.
WE do not have full equality today. I know that. But we saw the future at that concert and let me tell you, we have won. The fools out in front have no way to battle the emotions that come into people’s living room every week. WE have Gaga songs and a kid in a wheelchair and an Asian kid who can really dance and, gasp, a Latina lesbian who actually said something in Spanish!!
They cannot win against this. They were ignored out front and they will be ignored again and again. All those teenage girls are destined to have a BFF gay man in their future. And lord knows they want it to be Curt to help them dress well and be witty and gay with them on nights they don’t have dates.
While this was no March on Washington for LGBT rights, it was a giant step into the future, complete with nice arrangements of new and old songs, really good dancing, and a gleeful attitude. We are not there yet but from what I saw the other night, we are about to turn a very big corner. And the boobs on the corners will be waving their signs and no one will care. Don’t Stop Believing!!!
BTW, if someone can point me to a T-shirt that says LEBANESE on it, I would be a grateful Gleek.
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