We’re Here, We’re Queer and We’re Hypocrites

This week’s Washington Times column:

Greetings, from a poolside cabana at a trendy boutique hotel in Santa Monica. Oh, how I love these overpriced overnight stays. The sleek designs. The ambient music. The uniformly attractive and stylishly dressed young staffs. The plush beds with sheets of an absurdly high thread count. Weird faucets and weirder sinks. I bask in the attention to detail. W is my favorite letter. Philippe Starck is a personal hero.

As a realist, I’ve built into my mindset that the majority heterosexual population is less than exclusively responsible for creating this and countless other high-end consumer and artistic experiences. Plus, I have a ton of wonderful gay friends – even ones “married” and with children. If gay activists created “A Day Without a Gay” (as they promoted Dec. 10 of last year), I’d be the first to cry “uncle” – even before Cher. So, accordingly, I make philosophical and political accommodations. I’m – as the MTV generation says – “gay-friendly.”

But lately, color me “gay perturbed.” “Gay-friendly,” a term once manifestly redundant, now seems a glaring contradiction. (more…)