Gay Theatre

This isn't about pole dancers - maybe I will go there in some other blog
 - this is about two wonderful gay themed thearter events that we have recently attended. The first one was "Before Night Falls" a world preimer opera in Fort Worth. The second one was a play called "Corpus Christy" in Dallas at the Cathedral of Hope.

I won't try to write a review (except to say I love them) or even tell you the plots etc. If you are intetrested in such I recommend http://www.theaterjones.com/ - a great source for reviews etc. I am writing this to once again observe my shock at how accepting the world is of things gay.

Before Night Falls was pretty main stream but Corpus Christy couldn't get produced in Texas till the Cathedral of Hope offered its space. Even at that there were police outside incase there were protests. There weren't any but just in case.

As a LBG (late breaking gay) I am amazed and pleased that it is so easy to be gay. Now I know it hasn't always been and isn't all places and times and we are careful about that. But certianly I shouldn't have stayed in the closet as long as I did.

The Parent's Chairs

Yesterday there was a family party, and I got to sit in the Parent's Chairs.

It was my partner's son-in-law's 30th birthday. His wife (my partner's daughter in case you aren't following yet) threw a surprise birthday party for him. My partner and I hauled the barbecue grill she bought him from HomeDepot and we hauled in chairs and table etc. You know the routine.

What struck me was how normal it all seemed. If you have been reading my blogs you know that I am often struck by how normal my life is. When I was in the closet I was afraid that coming out would ruin my life. Well, to my surprise, coming out has perfected my life.

So now, at the family party, I sit in the Parent's Chairs. You know the chairs, the row of chairs set way back out on the lawn in the deep shade. Close enough to still be a part of every thing but far enough away from the kids at play so as to not be pestered.

As I grew up I never saw my self being relegated to the role of elder, but yesterday it didn't feel like I was being pushed to one side, it felt like I was being respected. And as a LBG (Late Breaking Gay) I was surprised. It wasn't that I stayed in the closet because I was afraid I would never be promoted to the "Parent's Chairs" but now that I am, it feels good to be "normal".

Matching Pearls

My partner and I got invited to a wedding a couple of weeks ago. Of course it is always nice to be invited to a party. But honestly I have never really enjoyed being a guest at a wedding.

For one thing I am a guy - a gay guy but somethings are the same no matter what team you bat for. Weddings are, and this is a fact, for the bride not the groom. It is the little girl who dreams of what her wedding will be like, not the little boy. OK - maybe some gay boys but not me.

That being said I had a wedding when I was twenty years old. It was suppose to be a church wedding but my folks didn't approve so we eloped and got married in a friends living room with a total of three people in attendance. For more than three decades I celebrated that wedding. Yet every time I would attend a wedding a part of me was struggling. As those vows were taken I was of course examining my own vows. It wasn't always pretty.

So to this day I am a sceptic at a wedding. Statistically 50% of all weddings end in divorce. As LBGs (Late Breaking Gays) my partner and I have both been divorced. Certainly we could ask :Why would anyone want to get married?" Of course the answer is Love!

When my partner and I got married (the one wedding I felt completely right at) we did it so that our friends and family knew how much we loved each other. Other than that nothing explains getting married.

When my partner told me about the invitation to the wedding I was a little conflicted. The happy couple was the daughter and fiance of his assistant at work. I had never met any of them and my partner is not out at work and I didn't want to get him outed at work.

Despite that I love to be with him and so, being as we are gay, three weeks before the happy event we stood in the closet to pick out our outfits. We choose light color suits for a summer wedding and on we went to what color shirts and ties we would wear.

There in the closet it suddenly it occurred to me that we might be the token gays at the wedding. If that was the case how modern and inclusive of them.

We should have worn matching pearls.

But that isn't our thing.