Gay stuff

So, I guess the theme of this particular blog is "the gay." It's not even like I set out to have any real agenda to write about, but this week has left me with almost nothing to say that doesn't have anything to do with the whole gay thing.

First off, Sunday lunch. I can't say my family, parents in particular, have been great at embracing the truth or anything. Granted, I feel lucky most of the time. Being a preacher's kid, my coming out could have been uber traumatic. But Kourt is welcome and expected at family events and such, even if there's always an undercurrent of discomfort with the whole thing. Sunday, though, was the first time I think I'd ever felt just downright insulted. We went to Hong Kong Inn for Chinese and at the end of our meal a group of people sat down at the table next to us. Turns out they were people we'd gone to church with many moons ago. So Mom starts introducing, pointing out who is who since the last time they saw me I was in elementary school. And first off I can't help but notice that she says I'm a server at the OG. Server? Um, haven't done that in months, thanks. I'm a bartender. But hell if Mom would admit in front of fellow church-going folk that her daughter sells alcohol for a living. Then she goes on to totally ignore Kourtnie. As in pretending she's not standing there at all. No mention. As if she couldn't have referred to her as my "friend" or something equally ambiguous. Nope, Kourt just didn't exist at all. So, I'm an embarrasment on two counts, the family member she glosses over now, and Kourtnie becomes invisible in public. Ain't acceptance grand?

So, moving on. Last night after attending the Pornography Debate between Susan Cole and Ron Jeremy at MSU last night, Kourt and I went to see Brokeback Mountain. Wow. I'm not sure what else to say about it besides that. So well done, and I can't imagine anyone sitting through the whole thing and not being moved by it. I've heard there have been walkouts fairly early in the film, and that pisses me off. But, living in the Bible Belt, it totally doesn't surprise me. What surprises me is that these people went to see the film in the first place, since it's highly unlikely they didn't know what it was about upfront. It was sad that we were two of about six people in the theater total, but again it doesn't surprise me. I'm just glad we got to see it before the theater rushes to get rid of it.

And lastly, just a shout out to JCPenney. Kourtnie and I went today to get wraps for our engagement rings. We're not having a ceremony yet, but we'll be domestic partners fairly soon and, well, we just want the damn rings already. We bought the solitaires at JCPenney because, well, every other jewelry store we went to didn't seem overly enthusiastic about selling rings to a couple of lesbians, especially if we weren't going to spring for gaudy, horrible looking, extremely expensive rings. So we ended up at JCPenney and got excellent and very helpful service without even a flinch at the idea of engagement rings for a lesbian couple. Same thing today, different saleswoman. Excellent service, no high pressure push or weird uncomfortable vibe.

So, in summary, my point I guess is... um... My mom sucks, go see Brokeback Mountain, and shop at JCPenney. Thank you.