I am sitting here at my computer, tippy tapping away, and my heart is rattling around in my chest.  I need a shower, I should eat something, but I’m frenzied.  The Supreme Court is going to make a decision on Tuesday whether or not to re-legalize gay marriage in California, and overturn Proposition 8.  And I want it to go my way.

I’m not gay.  I’m married.  To a man, who completes me, Maguire-style.  But I can’t bear this ridiculous question of whether gay people should be allowed to marry any longer.  I remember as a kid, my teacher taught us that at one time, blacks couldn’t drink from the same fountain as whites.  I laughed at him.  “They can’t do that,” I said.  “That’s stupid.”  I would not be convinced that Mr. Baskett, that old trickster, wasn’t yanking my chain.  I’m no fool; I knew he was a drinker.  Later, I shot milk through my nose when my mother told me that no, he was telling the truth.  She had even seen one of these fountains herself.  She finally had to get books from the library, with pictures, from several sources, before I would believe it.  Because it didn’t make sense. 

Last November, I found myself plagued with that same bewilderment.  How are people getting away with this discrimination, based on such faulty logic?  And when is Ken Starr going to get his nose out of other people’s SEX LIVES?  What kills me, really, is that somehow our country hasn’t totally caught up with something that was true 35 years ago, and is still true today, regarding taking away rights from a certain group of citizens because they make you uncomfortable:  You can’t do that. It’s stupid.

But doing it to gay people?  My gay friends, my favorite people on the planet?  Oh no, you don’t.

I wrote a song.  I mean, I’ve also phone banked and gone to rallies and marches, but I wanted to express what is, truly, my awe at my gay friends’ talents…how special they are as human beings.  I know it sounds corny and look, I have amazing straight friends, I do.  But my gay friends…it’s like they have a secret.  They’ve had to fight to be who they are on some level and so I think they know who they are a little better than most, and can really revel in that.  They are…and I’m sorry about this, straight friends…my favorites.  The song I wrote, “I Love the Gays,” is a celebration of the gifts the gay folks I know have brought to the world.  No, not all gays think “show tunes are a panic,” but the ones who do are really really fun to sing with at piano bars and cabaret nights.  And I thought…especially now, with the political climate being what it is and with this huge issue happening surrounding the civil right of marriage, I thought, “I want every gay person in America to understand how appreciated they are, how seen they are.”  The opposite of gay bashing.  I am one person, I wrote this one song as a love letter to say, “You make my world a better place.  Thank you.”

But I’d hate to seem one-sided, so let me address some concerns of those who oppose gay marriage:  Whether or not gay people can screw up the institution of marriage, well, sure they can.  But no more or less than straight people.  My father’s been married three times and I’m sure there’ll be a fourth; being straight didn’t help him with the sanctity of marriage.

And listen, for those of you crying in your coffee that gay people will be seen as normal, don’t you worry.  Bigotry will still be around, and no one’s going to lose their right to hate the fact that gay couples can marry.  You won’t be alone, either.  And you don’t have to go to one single gay wedding (although I’d re-think that because those parties are going to be amazing…) 

You really need to start getting over it now.  Because the right to marry will be granted to all American citizens in my lifetime.  And my 12 year-old daughter is going to laugh at me one day when I try and explain to her that at one time, Uncle Dan and Uncle Todd weren’t allowed to get married.

And I couldn’t be more gay about it.