DADT is still here…but GLEE!

I don’t watch Glee. I never watch Glee. Just not my thing. In fact, in our house, we have a rule called the “Gleeneva Convention.” I’m generally expected to hide during the show’s duration, and if I must scuttle out for some stale bread and water, I am required to remain silent. Which is ok, my trademark commentary can spoil just about anything for anybody. So I abide willingly to these terms.

Needless to say, this post is NOT my excited ramblings of/recaps and favorite lines from last night’s episode of Glee. So what else happened yesterday? Oh yeah, that bill that included repealing DADT (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) was blocked. According to my strict process of social trend analysis (my facebook newsfeed), that was only half as noteworthy as “Shit Sue Sylvester Said.”

Which is ok, honestly! At first, I had this residual angst of “Why is everyone so apathetic blah blah blahblahblah” Which no one wants to read (I certainly don’t!) and serves no actual purpose.

So you, the reader, may be pondering: “What is this connection you have made between Glee and DADT, aliasmitch? My attention span is already shot. Get to the point.”

Of which there is one!

In the brief seconds I caught of Glee, I saw this scene where Kurt (the openly gay character) is being interviewed by some kid with a mic and Kurt says something to the extent of “If anyone has something to say, say it to my face.” Once said, some huge massive brute of a man throws some mysterious red liquid in his face while yelling “WELCOME BACK LADY!”

Which. Is. Exactly. How. I. Feel.

 No member of said party actually wants to say “I hate gays.” NO ONE. Instead, this ultra-choreographed dance of words and laws is performed to continue to deny gays rights while not actually identifying WHY THEY ARE DENYING THEM RIGHTS. We all get the subtext. We all get why that guy called Kurt a “Lady.” We get it. WE GET IT.

So, so. What do we do? Continue to “hope for change”? Continue to dream? Ignore that there is very likely going to be a violent and virile republican backlash in the November Elections? How do we cope with the very idea that 60 members of the senate just threw a red mystery liquid in our face while screaming a veiled anti-gay insult that is passable on primetime? (Allow me to assert my “English Major Authority” training in here in which we insert metaphors into contexts to make our point…isn’t red the republican color?) What do we, the LGBTQA community deal with this constant reminder that we are really just something to be talked about, talked to, talked DOWN to, treated as some divisive minority because when the privileged majority makes laws in regards to oppressing a minority, they really don’t even know a member of that minority personally?

We find ways to cope, we find ways to not constantly stew. We build communities, we delight in shared experiences. We find ways to not have to sit around and feel powerless, unconnected, miserable and alone. We do what we can to create our own spaces of happiness and enjoyment, ways not to focus on the breaking news that breaks us.

We quote Sue Sylvester.