Ok, ages ago, I posted a blog about a night when my daughter, Luca, woke up spouting vomit at 3 in the morning. One of the commentarians - hello Emptyman - wrote something about this being part of why they couldn't understand the whole child thing - puke in the middle of your dreams.
This has stuck in my head. Today, me and my four year old, Luca, went to the Gay Rodeo. For those who don't know, there is a thriving queer rodeo scene where the women do the men's things, the men do the women's things, they have drag on steer events and they put BVDs on a goat. Oh, we are a gentle angry people.
Anyhow, as we were leaving the gay Rodeo, moving slowly towards the car, my four year old daughter threw a tizzy in the parking lot. Sobbing, screaming, hysterical that we were leaving the horses. Beyond reason. And all I could think about were the hundreds of gay men in the stands, shirtless and tight-pec'd or hairy chested or just plain sun burned who came to the Rodeo to spike up their testosterone and get laid in a cowboy hat. There they were, their hands potentially already inching towards another weekend cowboy's rearing steed, when my daughter throwns a hissy fit, screaming red faced that she wants to dance with the gay boys and watch the drag queens ride the bulls.
And I remembered Felicia Park Rogers (where are you now, Felicia?)m who said that there are three things the queer movement has to give to the mainstream: sexual liberation, gender liberation, and family liberation. And I hoped the gay men in the stands remembered her, too.
4 comments:
I want to write something funny. But I can't. Maybe it is because I don't think that if i were in your shoes i would be wondering what the gay boys in the stands were doing. Maybe.
My other thoughts are probably too much statements of the obvious, which I will save for a face to face interview.
hey susan
well i was there....and i was there when Luca did not want to leave when we visited on Friday ...
she cried "i want to see competition...i want to se cowgirls"
one of those moments that i had to turn my face so she could not see me laughing. I really don't think that many of the wanna be cowboys thought much of it... as i think is true for many gay men who do not have kids...i think it is so far from their minds....but i could be wrong. As we drove away .. Luca crying in the back seat....you told me of this quote from Felicia Park Rogers....
I wish more queer people really grasped this...well and heterosexual families for that matter...instead of continually trying to be the status quo...and frankly being square pegs trying to fit into round holes (no pun intended). It was a great day! thanks Susan...thanks Luca.
peac
leigh
it was an awesome day and probably what i should have said was this: my personal crazy insane worry which might or might not have been real but which certainly bit my butt and i felt embarrassed by feeling it like really who cares but there you go, socially self conscious moment oh dear and all in all it was an absolutely great day. thanks, leigh.
It's tough when so many people in your real life also know about your blog. Because if you're going through anything that affects them, too, then you don't want to blog about it. But at the same time you find it hard to put up a smiley happy banal blog when you are going through something rough.
If, on the other hand, you're not going through anything rough right now, and are just being slow to update your blog...
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