Beacon Broadside

June is Pride Month, and Beacon Press will feature posts throughout the month about Pride in the LGBT community. Today’s post is by Harlyn Aizley. Aizley edited Confessions of the Other Mother: Nonbiological Lesbian Moms Tell All!  and is the author of Buying Dad: One Woman’s Search for the Perfect Sperm Donor.

The season of GLBT Pride is like the Shabbat of gayness except for the "day of rest" part, which might mean it’s more like Christmas – lord knows there’ll be at least a few kings walking around.  But everything is always compared with Christmas and hardly ever is anything compared to Shabbat.  So yes, Happy Pride, Shabbat Shalom! 

Pride month is a chance to pay respect to our brothers and sisters who have worked all year to secure the rights of GLBT folk everywhere: by campaigning, organizing, marrying, or joining the PTA as same-sex parents.  It’s an opportunity to reflect upon the past year and all that was accomplished in the name of GLBT equality and all that needs still to be done.  Most of all it’s a chance to celebrate with beads, bikinis, and martinis. 

In the spirit of Pride I thought I’d share the top ten things this lesbian mom is proud of in 2008:

1. I am proud I did not drive to Mitt Romney’s Belmont settlement,
climb onto the roof of my car and sing into a megaphone, "Aw, did
Willard have to pull out of the race?"

2. I am proud I have remembered to put a note in my daughter’s
lunch every single solitary school day but for one, lest the straight
parents and teachers think me unloving and unappreciating of my dear
child of unknown spermage.

3. I am proud that even though my father will be voting for
John McCain I still can prepare lox , bagels and cream cheese, sliced
red onion and fruit for brunch at my house for him and his girlfriend
and talk about everything except that he will be voting for John
McCain.

4. I am proud I could give a rat’s hoo-ha whether it’s Hillary or Barack in the white house so long as it’s one of them.

5. I am proud that when it was my daughter’s time to spar in
karate class she knocked down the boy who, upon seeing he was to be
matched with a girl, just had given his buddy a high-five.

6. I am proud I finally had the sense to pay someone to trim
the hedges so that the neighbors can stop shaking their heads at our
front lawn and muttering, "See what happens when there’s not a man in
the house."

7. I am proud I went sledding with my daughter rather than pay someone else to do it so I could sit inside and go on eBay.

8. I am proud that when my daughter is whining and the dog is
following me from room to room and the kitty is sitting on the kitchen
table I haven’t said in the most sarcastic tone I can dredge up, "This
is sooo fun."

9. I am proud I have gotten my daughter this far, six years
down the road from my womb to the world, happy healthy silly and
strong, bitter-sweetly oblivious to the fact that a good portion of our
nation including her beloved grandfather will be voting for president a
man who feels our family should not exist.

10. I am proud that with so many more miles to go before we rest, I will be wearing sensible shoes, jeans and a t-shirt.

You may also want to read Aizley’s other posts about negotiating playdates and Mother’s Day with two mommies, or check out her blog.