gay – Rebel Prince

‘I’m the same… You just know me better now.’

Happy LGBT Pride Month! I just wanted to post one of my favorite coming-out stories, Michael’s “Letter to Mama” from Armistead Maupin‘s More Tales of the City. By the way we saw the new Tales of the City musical at A.C.T. last week and it was fantastic. We lucked out with friends’ extra tickets, so we will end up seeing it again next week with our original tickets. Definitely go see it if you can! It’s playing at A.C.T. on Geary in San Francisco through July 10. [Update: It has been extended through July 31.]

By the way, the Tales of the City TV miniseries, which aired on PBS in 1994, is now available for streaming on Hulu.

The letter comes later in the original stories, but I’m so glad they worked it into the musical. I always get a little misty-eyed when I read it, so you can imagine I was full-on crying when it was sung on stage. Enjoy, and Happy Pride.

Seatmates

I just wanted to relate a short conversation my seatmate and I had on the plane from Lynchburg to Atlanta last month. I had booked my reservation long after Thom did his, so we weren’t able to get seats together on the small regional jet. It was a short enough flight that we didn’t bother asking another passenger to switch seats with one of us.

After the plane landed in Atlanta, the older gentleman sitting next to me, who was perhaps in his sixties or seventies, asked where I was headed. I told him San Francisco and mentioned that I had been in Virginia with my partner (sitting a few rows ahead of us) to visit his family for Christmas.

He asked, “How long have you two been together?”

Wow. I thought we were going to gloss over the fact that I have a “partner,” but with that I was completely disarmed and at ease.

“Coming up on six years,” I said.

Then he told me about his niece and her partner, who run a B&B in Mendocino! (I should’ve gotten the name of the place!) I guess I needn’t have been quite so wary. Older people know gay people, just like everyone else. And they’ve been around a while. They’ve seen it all.