Just Jay

Being gay for me is as natural as taking breath. I really don't think much about it aside from having to explain and speak to people about who and what I am. I do identify myself as gay. It is a part of who I am and in order to change the way we think and the way our children think I need to continue to claim my sexuality as my identity.
Yes, indeed few straight people identify as straight. They are not introduced at parties as the straight friend. They do not need to tell their doctors or employers that they are gay. They do not need a parade to feel a part of something and they do not need to have a flag or wave it from the rooftops.
I do.
I cannot walk down the street holding my boyfriends hand without someone laughing or saying something negative. I cannot stand in the doorway of a church and kiss my husband without being judged or mocked. I cannot lay in the park on a summer day in the gentle arms of my boyfriend sharing a picnic and public hugs and kisses.
You see I shouldn't have to use my sexuality as a label to identify who I am but I have no choice.
I, along with generations of homosexuals was suppressed. In the generations before me, gay people were institutionalized and murdered silently without justice. I have to speak out loud.
My generation of gays is the first to have a voice.
I will get married and I will walk through the streets holding his hand. I will kiss him in the park and I will love him publicly. I will be the biggest, loudest gay ever. Why? Because it is duty! My duty to my daughter, to your sons and daughters and to the children, gay or straight, who will follow me. I do this for the freedom of our future! I do this for the security of our young. Too many children are still hanging themselves from their bedroom light fixtures for me to be silent. As long as a boy or girl feels that they need to die rather than face the day being bullied for being gay I will keep talking!
I do this so that someday I will just be Jay and we won't need to identify as gay. peace!