Legalize Gay! (Which Will Probably Not Keep Bank Tellers From Thinking I'm Hitting On Them)

Saturday, August 1, 2009

The American Apparel store in Bethesda was recently vandalized for featuring tees in its front display that read Legalize Gay: Repeal Prop 8 Now! Whether you believe the phrase "Legalize Gay" makes any sense (I do, but it's spurred multiple debates/heated conversations between my more literal coworkers), it's safe to say that any non-gay-hating liberal will be exasperated by this bit of news - really, more gay-bashing? COME ON, HOMOPHOBES.

Instead of backing down & removing the "controversial" shirts from their public display windows, American Apparel has stepped up, offering free t-shirts to any organization in the DC area working for LGBT rights & marriage equality. I just so happen to be employed by such an organization, & on Wednesday, our much-anticipated box of 20 black & white "Legalize Gay" shirts - all mediums - rolled in via USPS. Thanks, American Apparel!

First, I'm happy that a medium tee fits across my chest. Because, you know, sometimes things don't. And by "sometimes," I mean, "I haven't worn a medium anything since I was 15." But more importantly, I am more stoked than a vegan in a veggie patch to be able to wear my new "Legalize Gay" shirt proudly across DC.

I would probably be more excited to wear it - & also more afraid of getting beaten up - if I were still living in Ohio, where there are more bigots & fewer loud-&-proud stores like Dupont's Lambda Rising, which features crotch-bulging mannequins in teeny-tiny undies on display on Connecticut Avenue. Here in the District, same-sex couples are free to engage in the same nauseating public displays of affection as straight couples, which means I am able to be an equal-opportunity vomiter & eye-roller. But really: Here in my adopted city, gay is not a dirty word - a fact that makes me quite happy.

But yesterday, wearing my new shirt through Cleveland Park as I ran my errands, I watched through sunglassed eyes as passersby took note of my note of my tee's message & then either smiled or looked disdainful. Two people told me they liked my shirt (including a withered old rockstar who told me I was beautiful); one mother blatantly shot me the stink-eye as she sheparded her kids around me. And I later realized that the bank teller I'd been chatting with seemed to think I was hitting on her, which was probably a result of the toxic comibination of the shirt, my unfortunate habit of stranger-talking (inherited from my grandmother) & the shirt & the fact that she was hot. [Note: I've always been a loud ally, which sometimes means I'm mistaken for a lesbian, to which I say, "Whatevs" & "So what if I were?"]

OK, so not every gay person has it emblazoned across his or her chest at all times, I get it. But wearing my new tee yesterday was an interesting reminder of how difficult it can still be to be gay today, even in a city as LGBT-friendly as DC - there are still those close-minded enough to think that being gay is some sort of disease worth shielding children from or that attempted friendly conversation on the part of a lesbian means she's putting the moves on you. And that's just the beginning.

The only way to "legalize gay" is for citizens to speak up & make it happen, to say that we won't sit back & accept the fact that our country still treats gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender people as second-class citizens. No civil rights movement ever succeeded without the help of allies - women needed men, black needed whites, & now, gay people need straight people. So gay or straight, do your part to make it happen:
I was going to try to end this on some witty note, but I've got nothin'. Speak up. Legalize gay. And look for me in my t-shirt.

8 comments:

  1. I LOVE IT. and i want that shirt. i am mightily impressed w/american apparel for not caving and instead, fighting back.

    i've got to believe that by the time i'm a grandma, i'll get to tell my unbelieving grandkids that when i was growing up, gay people actually weren't allowed to get married to each other, can you BELIEVE that? (and in my little mental picture, they won't be able to.)

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  2. Doood I'm totally jealous. I have been thinking about buying it, even though I loathe AA on principle.

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  3. So I totally never knew that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy is still in effect or that it is possible to have employment discrimination towards the gay community! I guess I'm not very up to date on my politics, but geez... that's just awful!

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  4. I am so totally proud of this post -- and YOU! LU

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  5. I take offense at your characterization of OHIO as backward and bigoted. We do not have a corner on prejudice -- it's everywhere -- and we are no better or worse than D.C.!! We have a gay bar, a PFLAG group (I'm a dues paying member) and our congregation even has a gay Rabbi!! Lay off OHIO!!

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  6. My 7-year old daughter recently asked me what it means to be gay. I explained it to her in the most "people are people" way I could think of. But your statement: "one mother blatantly shot me the stink-eye as she sheparded her kids around me" is a little harsh - of course it happens, but in a way, you're making her have to explain a lifestyle to her children that she might not be ready to explain. So at this point my child knows what "gay" is, and while she's asked me what "sex" is, I'm not ready to answer that one. Maybe when you're a parent, you'll understand how frustrating it can be to have to explain things to your children that you're not even ready for. Otherwise, great post.

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  7. I don't have to be old and withered to thinky you look great in that shirt- or any shirt to that matter.

    That's a classy move for American Apperal to send out the free shirts.

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