How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't! ~ The Tempest

Okay—so FINALLY Congress voted to repeal DADT. In spite of John McCain’s objections and stalling. And President Obama signed the bill today.


But, there are still hurdles ahead for gays in the military and Marriage Equality is still not a reality.

Why?!

I mean, it’s not like gay people are a new phenomenon. They’ve been around forever people. Such historic figures as Alexander the Great and Richard the Lionhearted were gay. So that proves sexuality does not determine your ability to be an effective fighter/leader.

Then there’s Hadrian, Emperor of Rome. [Actually, historians have found that all of the Emperors—with the exception of Claudius—had male lovers]. Socrates, the great philosopher.

Homosexual and transgender individuals were also common among other pre-conquest civilizations in Latin America, such as the Aztecs, Mayans, Quechuas, Moches, Zapotecs, and the Tupinambá of Brazil. And there are numerous accounts of gay relationships among Native Americans.

Then there’s more recent British monarchs: The relationships of socially prominent figures, such as King James I and the Duke of Buckingham had many rumors about them, including in anonymously authored street pamphlets: "The world is chang'd I know not how, For men Kiss Men, not Women now;...Of J. the First and Buckingham: He, true it is, his Wives Embraces fled, To slabber his lov'd Ganimede" (Mundus Foppensis, or The Fop Display'd, 1691).

Pictured above are my brother, the taller one on the right, and my brother-in-law. They have been together for close to 37 years—and yet they are not legally recognized as a married couple. Half of all marriages end in divorce now (Larry King is on divorce # 5), Liz Taylor may marry for the 9th time, numerous “family value” politicians (usually Republicans) are getting caught with mistresses….. But my brother, his partner and the half a dozen couples like them that I know are considered a threat to the “sanctity” of marriage. Seriously?


Let’s face it folks, it ain’t new—and it ain’t going away.