Enlightened Men

It seems like gay bashing and bullying is at an all-time high. It's tragic how LGBT youth are teased, assaulted and occasionally driven to take their own lives. It's easy to feel hopeless. Some could chalk childhood bullying up to ignorance or the old adage "kids will be kids". It's harder to justify such behavior in adults; the juvenile rationale doesn't work anymore. The reason adults bully and discriminate is simple - hate. And it's easy to become jaded as adult. Adults don't see the world as a trusting and happy place like the way children do.

It's hopeless, right? I don't believe that. I see a new generation of people who see sexual orientation as something as unimportant as eye or hair color. Working at Corcoran is such a rich experience. It's an environment where everyone works together and celebrates each others' differences. The ladies I work with seem to prefer gay men to straight men. I'm constantly being asked my opinion on dresses and shoes. They always know that I'll keep them up to date with the latest celebrity gossip. But it's the males at Corcoran that really surprise me. Andy routinely talks about having dinner with his gay friends. He freely talks about how he likes his friend's boyfriend. Sexuality is a non-issue.

Mike is the biggest surprise. If there were two people that were least likely to become friends, it's he and I. He likes beer and sports and I like sweet, fruity drinks and watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. But we've become really good friends, even though we joke about how much we hate each other. He saw that I was reading an article about a recent Republican debate. He asked what it was about and I explained the story. A gay soldier asked if the Republican candidates would undo all the progress gays had made in the military. The crowd booed the soldier and Rick Santorum (insert joke about his last name) agreed to reinstate DADT. Mike said it was stupid and that he was sure I could shoot a gun just as well as he could.

He also told me of his college orientation. A girl, who just happened to be a lesbian, was his orientation leader. He just happened to say, "that's so gay" and she heard. She told him not to say it. It happened again and she pulled him aside and more sternly told him that he'd better knock it off. He told me that he then realized that, those innocent, it did hurt peoples' feelings and he hasn't said it since.

It's a great story because it shows me that there are regular, all-American guys who are enlightened enough to realize that we're all the same. We just want to be treated as equals. The more people I meet that have a modern, enlightened perspective, the more hope I have for future generations.