Excited and Angry

Two things of note happened in my life recently related my identity as a gay man, and as a mental health professional. President Obama publicly announced his support for same-sex marriage and in the same week a former client committed suicide because his family could not accept his sexual orientation. This is a rough juxtaposition for me.

Part of me wants to celebrate President Obama’s announcement. I want to share in the joy of this gesture. I see it as a symbolic action in that as President he has little official power to effect change in state marriage laws. I see that it has importance nonetheless, in that it will inevitably affect public opinion and has the potential to set same-sex marriage rights as an official party policy. I recognize that progress will only be made incrementally and often symbolic gestures can turn a real world, practical tide, which is what I hope happens in this case.

However, I am reminded on a weekly basis in my office, by the people that sit on my couch that as a people, GLBTs are far from being accepted. Many of us living our insulated lives—frequently among our liberal friends—are unaware of the daily oppression that has gone on or continues to go on.  Most of us have not been directly affected by the oppression. I have been an out gay man for just over 25 years; in that time I have been threatened with physical harm or even death a half dozen times—sometimes anonymously, sometimes from a person standing right in front of me—and I have had my apartment door vandalized  in grad school (see picture).

In those 25 years I have also seen sodomy legalized, DADT overturned, and same-sex marriage begin to be legalized. I have seen numerous openly gay or lesbian politicians be elected. I have seen numerous states pass non-discrimination laws. I have seen a President specifically address a GLBT audience, appoint openly gay and lesbians to sub-cabinet positions and ambassadorships, and invite GBLT individuals to state dinners. The amount of progress I have seen is sometimes enough to make my head spin.

We have made tremendous progress in the last 25 years. But there is a sentiment that (suddenly?) everyone can be out and open with reprisal. I see this sentiment on the online hook-up apps all of the time because the person himself feels safe without consideration for what consequences may result from another’s different consequences (demands that people have a face picture in their profiles without any consideration as to the workplace or family consequences involved in being exposed). There is a sense that since we live in a liberal city which elected an openly lesbian mayor we are safe. All of the threats and attacks that I experienced also occurred in exceptionally liberal cities.

The day that President Obama made his announcement there were protests all over the country planned in response to the vote the previous day in North Carolina to ban same-sex marriage. The majority of the protests were immediately converted into celebrations. I agree that having a sitting President express support for our equality is a momentous occasion as well. But I also was a little frustrated that it diffused our anger. It is our anger that fuels us toward continued progress, not celebration. Stopping to celebrate our progress is essential in maintaining hope and I fully support it. However, I also fear that we will become complacent with the crumbs of acceptance.

I am reminded of how far we still have to go about every week by my clients. I also am aware of the (indirect) effect of the barrage of stories of oppression—bullying and ministers, as of late—has on the psyche; it is not healthy to be continually reminded that people hate us. How many times a week are you exposed to homophobia by reading the news? I hope that we still get angry, but do not stay angry, but I also hope we do not stay joyous yet. I hope that we are able to appreciate the progress with one eye, while simultaneously recognizing the immense progress still to made with the other.