Over the weekend a man who organized a charity bike ride in Colorado had a cannon fired at him. Society has definitely stooped to a new low. I guess it is time to go out and buy Knight’s armor for my bike rides now.

http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/News/2010/07/30/Teens_suspects_for_fired_cannon/

Sexist – What society calls someone who discriminates against another person based on the person’s sex.

Both of these words carry a very negative connotation and people hate being called them. The LGBT movement uses far less powerful terms of bigot and homophobe. Both of which may be accurate terms, but do not carry anywhere near the same punch of racist or sexist. So what term should be used to define someone who discriminates against another person based on the person’s sexual orientation? I welcome your suggestions.

1) Balls – the politicians are too afraid of losing a couple votes by passing ENDA.
2) Blame – the Democrats think they can blame the Republicans and thus increase their slim chances of maintaining majorities.
3) Money – the Democrats have no fear of losing valuable donation values by not passing ENDA.
4) It does not impact them.

So my completely politically incorrect solution to this. Fire all of your straight employees for being straight in a well publicized manner. I expect if this happened, ENDA would become a top priority across the board that everyone could agree on.

I wanted to talk about the protesters. Colorado Springs has a reputation of being a very gay unfriendly place. We are the home of Focus on the Family and the New Life Center and a lot of other religious organizations. Despite having these mega-churches and other religious organization there were a grand total of 4 protesters at Pride. Four protesters who everyone ignored and laughed at. In my mind this shows just how far we have come; however, we still have a long way to go.

I have not lived in Colorado Springs long enough to know the attitudes of years past, but I can say it is now a fairly welcoming place and has come a long way. Twenty years ago Colorado Springs was the home of a very discriminatory state law that was later overturned by the courts. Today, Colorado Springs can only muster 4 protesters at Pride.

This does not mean that we have changed the hearts of everyone. To me it means that it is no longer fashionable to argue against gay rights. Many people may still disagree, but because it is not fashionable they will not argue and protest in public. They keep their thoughts on gay rights behind their own doors. This is why their have been multiple lawsuits recently trying to keep the names of partition signers against gay rights private. This is why polling shows overwhelming support for ENDA but we cannot get it passed. Voting is a private institution and not a public institution.

We are never going to change the attitudes of the people who are still outspoken against gay rights. But how do we change the attitudes of the people who disagree with gay rights but will not admit it?

After this 45 minute conversation and turning down several offers of a drink the couple left and thanked me for explaining everything to them. By the time they left they were using terms like peloton and breakaway and a lot of the other cycling lingo. They expressed a much deeper understanding of cycling when they left.

This conversation made me realize that gays and cyclists are a lot alike. A significant portion of the population hates us and thinks we should have no rights or what we do should be illegal. We are both trying to expand our rights and better educate the public. So what can the cycling movement learn from the gay rights movement and what can the gay rights movement learn from the cycling movement?

One of the major things we cyclists are trying to do is make everyone feel safer cycling on a road. We are doing this by working to add bicycle infrastructure such as bike lanes and working to implement 3 foot laws where cars must give a cyclist at least 3 feet of clearance. The more bikes on the road the more cars are going to expect them and respect them. This effort is having an impact. So how can the gay community make closeted gays feel safer when coming out of the closet? The big fear with coming out of the closet is rejection where in bicycling it is getting hit by a car. Both will happen, but how can we reduce the risk?

On the other hand the gay community is waging a very high profile and very public effort to pass laws. While the cycling community is trying to pass laws to help protect cyclists it does not seem that it is being done in the high profile public manner the gay community is using. Would the cycling community benefit by taking the gay communities example and becoming more public and a PR machine or are the cyclists having better luck and the gay community would be better served by toning it down some?

What other lessons could these two very hated groups learn from each other in their campaigns to improve their way of life?

Should we celebrate Independence Day when our government applies different taxes to gays than straight married couples?

Should we celebrate Independence Day when our government is ruled by religion?

Should we celebrate Independence Day when someone cannot find housing solely because they are gay?

Should we celebrate Independence Day when our nation still treats some of its residents like second and third class citizens?

No.

Why do we celebrate Independence Day for a nation that treats the gay community very similarly to how Britain treated the US? Would we not be more productive by using this day to protest? I think it would make one hell of statement. Why do we trust that the government is just going to make things better if we keep begging and asking? How long do we have to beg?

I do not respect this country. I will not celebrate this country. I am disgusted to be an American.

So next Independence Day, next Memorial Day, next President’s day, next Labor Day ask yourself “Why are you celebrating? Are you celebrating this country? Should you be celebrating this country?”

1) Riding my bicycle in hail is not fun.
2) Surprisingly, quarter inch hail does not hurt.
3) Cyclists measure their speed in Kilometers per hours instead of miles per hour because when they are having a bad day it makes them feel like they are going faster.
4) President Obama is a politician through and through and will try everything possible not to follow through on campaign promises.
5) John McCain is 100 times worse than President Obama.

But first before I really start posting, there is this thing called “My Life is G”. Not really sure what it is, but 40% of this blog’s traffic is coming from that search term. What is this and why does Google list my site 4th under that search term??? Not complaining, the traffic is certainly nice.

One thing I think most people are afraid of when they come out to someone is the challenge of explaining why you are gay and getting someone to accept you being gay. We are afraid of getting fired or ostracized.

When I came out to my coworkers I experienced none of this. The conversation went:

Me: Well honestly I will never have a girlfriend.
Co-Workers: Why?
Me: I am gay.
Co-Workers: Do you need a boyfriend?

This made me realize just how far the gay community has come in its acceptance recently. There was no asking why I was gay or how I was gay or wow or we can no longer be friends. It was let me help you find a boyfriend.

I learned not to be afraid of coming out anymore. Yes, you can still have a bad experience coming out, but it is a lot easier to do today.

This conversation almost doubled the number of straight people who know I am gay. However, this conversation has also made me a lot happier and feels like a big weight lifted from my shoulders. I learned to not be afraid of coming out.

Can it still be dangerous? Yes. I could have gotten fired as a result of that conversation. But I learned not to be as afraid and be much more willing to come out.

P.S. I know I said I was done posting, and this does not mean I am starting again. But I will continue to post occasionally about important events that I think need to be shared.