It’s Pride, that glorious time of year when we raise our rainbow flags, remember the Stonewall riots, and take stock of the year in gayosity. Locally, it’s been a year of waiting--hey, Court of Special Appeals, where’s that gay marriage decision already?--and celebrating beginnings and endings: Leon’s turned 50, the Hippo turned 35, the GLCCB turned 30, and Gallagher’s served its last beer.
It’s also been a year of steps forward and back for Maryland’s transgender community. Dana Beyer became the first transgendered person to run for the General Assembly, but she didn’t win. A bill was introduced to protect transgendered people in the state from discrimination, but it didn’t get out of committee. Still, we hear that Equality Maryland is gearing up for a year of fighting for our transgendered brothers, sisters, and brothers/sisters rights, so things are about to get interesting.
Nationally, it’s been a year of only modestly newsworthy coming outs, which speaks to the continued mainstreaming of gay culture. T.R. Knight came out, as did Neil Patrick Harris, David Hyde Pierce, Lance Bass, and Suze Orman--not exactly big shocks, but kudos for making it official. And a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Other good news nationwide: The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in favor of recognizing same-sex couples’ right to legal unions, and Washington state hopped on the civil-unions bandwagon, though the law won’t go into effect until after Pride. And it looks like whoever wins the Democratic presidential nomination will be all for repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell--though the chances any of them supporting marriage equality don’t look so good.
All in all this year has felt like something of a placeholder. Maybe we’re gathering our resources and making sure we’re properly stretched and prepared for the coming years’ struggles.
While we wait, this year’s Queer Issue offers some pre-leap reading material. Laura Laing susses out the oral history of Leon’s, Baltimore’s oldest continuously run gay bar. Heather Harris talks to three interracial same-sex couples about raising their children. Out and proud Stephen Sattler remembers stepping back into the closet for a high-paying job. And, of course, we have the Pride Guide, a calendar of events both official and tangential taking place during this time of celebration, because no one said we couldn’t have a little fun while preparing to change the world.
