Oops, Ron Paul, and Human Rights

There's a crew of Ron Paul supporters camped out on Main Street here in Bozeman. Their dedication is impressive and they've got me thinking about what it means to truly stand up for your beliefs.

On our street back home in SF, there was a Volvo with a Bush sticker on its bumper. It was the only Republican bumper sticker I think I ever encountered on my endless walks around my neighborhood. Sometimes I wondered what it felt like to drive that car around arguably one of the most liberal enclaves in the most liberal city in America. I think a little bravery was involved. Because we all know liberal doesn't mean 'open to all sorts of thinking.'

My friend and Bernal neighbor, Will, once said, (approximately,) 'I saw a guy in a suit the other day on Cortland and it was so weird. It's less weird to see a woman in a burqa around here.' That's because there was a Bernal denizen who did wear a burqa, and seemingly none who wore a suit, at least in public. (An overstatement, but not by far.)

Every community - even supposedly super-open ones- has its norms, and disregarding or disobeying them has its consequences.

Bozeman lacks in many ways when it comes to diversity, but this town has got it in spades over SF on the political front. All opinions are represented. And I've learned that sometimes when I'm talking to someone I don't know and we're making a connection, I should stick to non-political issues. Seems that politics are something you ease into around here.

Except, apparently, on your car:

I do wonder what would it feel like to have a big Obama sticker on the back of my car when I routinely pull up next to trucks with stickers like the ones above.  Or how about parking in my driveway across from the founder of the Bozeman Tea Party — what would that feel like if I had democrat plastered all over me? It's a whole different game than preaching to the Bay area choir.

The thing is that unlike other types of differences, political orientation isn't something that's written all over you. You can reveal your opinions and thinking as you like.

This week, my family suffered the loss of one of our own who struggled with some more apparent physical differences. Things that she/he couldn't hide - and didn't want to. Struggles with gender identity and sexual orientation can be so public - so noticed and commented on/whispered about - and so taboo. Living in SF, I was really out of touch with that. I feel it here. And I feel so much for my cousin.

I heard on the radio that gay people in the military are now fighting to have their partners -and marriages- recognized. So that their husbands, wives, and partners can receive things like healthcare, and death benefits, and the right to bury them. Imagine.

It's time.



This one's for you, Kyle:

Human Rights Campaign - http://www.hrc.org

May all people everywhere be joyful and free - to love and to be exactly who they are.