A Piece of Cake

Los Angeles, California

I write a lot about cake. And I write some about faith and religion. I probably even write occasionally about sex, though not so much. One thing I don't write much about is politics, though it wouldn't take a fine-toothed comb to sift through the information contained in my posts and figure out where I stand on the conservative-liberal spectrum.

It's not that I don't care about political and social issues. It's not as if it is a missing link in my life, like visual art seems to be. It's just that, in my life today, I can't throw enough attention at it to be really knowledgable. I don't devote the time to keep up. My news comes to me through NPR, the NYTimes online, and other print and online sources. But, when I am not in Carmel, I simply don't read news cover-to-cover. Other interests, responsibilities, and, let's be honest, distractions take precedence.

But I am not unaware of the movement of LGBT rights. And it is important to me. And would be, even if Billy and I didn't have several friends who are gay, including one couple who are very close friends. I know this is wrong, but I don't think I've ever really stopped to think that they are denied anything in life and society, because that seems so incomprehensible to me. Denial is not just a river in Egypt?

Not that it should be an issue when it comes to rights, but I believe that each of the couples we know are in every way as close and committed as are Billy and I. I don't accept preference as making much of a difference when it comes to our human emotions, including our love for another human being. And, frankly (here comes one of those times when I will bring sex into my blog), our sexuality is only one aspect of our lives, intimate or otherwise (albeit an important one). Lastly, when it comes to marriage equality, I am always reminded of what I once heard Tom Selleck (I think it was Tom Selleck--I know it wasn't Tom Cruise) say: Why shouldn't they be as unhappy as the rest of us? That's a joke, people!

Years ago, Billy and I watched a documentary entitled Eyes on the Prize. It was a profound piece of work about the civil rights movement. And even though it was only three or four decades after the movement, what we saw in the footage--of children being severely knocked about by the force of firehoses held by grown men, was shocking and appalling. You forget, after the movements have accomplished their goals, how hard it was. How wrong the pre-movement thinking was. I don't often think about the fact that my gender has only had the vote for less than a century. I don't reflect upon the fact that we were thought too stupid or too emotional to be given that right and responsibility.

As I look about my community of friends and fristers (and frothers), I realize that there is a great deal of diversity in all areas of my life. I remember that when I was a Brownie and Girl Scout, in Burbank, California, we sold fund-raising calendars with pictures of racially and ethnically diverse Scouts. But that didn't represent my troop. We had no Latinas, no African-American nor Asian girls in my troop. We had one Jewish girl. We had a quite a few Italian-Americans, but the rest of us were mostly of mixed middle and northern European heritage. My high school had one(1) African-American student attending, and I did not get to know him. I remember looking on him with curiosity, nothing more. As I've aged the diversity amongst my community has more or less just unfolded, and I think I've taken that for granted. In fact, in the community where we live, Billy and I are in the minority, except in the obvious, but nevertheless all-important, sense that we are all of the human race. All. Important.

When I first saw the symbol for equality on someone's Facebook page, I had to surf for the meaning of it. When I saw the cake version of it, shown above, I had to download it. The truth is that this movement for LGBT rights should be so accomplished already. And maybe that's why I tend to forget that it isn't. And that is wrong of me. I should show support. I should show that I care. Because, like the movement for women's rights, and the movement for civil rights, this should have been done already. In fact, it should have been a piece of cake. Thank you for reading my blog.