Countdown to the Gay Games - Unity

Week 7 and 8

So things are starting to smooth out a bit in the training. The running is getting a bit easier though I wish that the weather would even out. Between the rain and the colder days and my schedule, finding a good time to run is somewhat difficult. I made a decision to change up my route this week and run up in the northeast suburbs. Unfortunately this bypasses the lakefront (and the cute boys) but, cute boys aside, the scenery is much more interesting to pay attention to. I also made the decision to run with the iPod. Holy shit - I love it. I actually created playlists and everything for running the different distances and some of the songs are strategically placed at distances where I know I have a tendency to slow down. Listening to the music also gets me out of my head and keeps me from overthinking things. I don't have an overthinking problem do I?

There are pros and cons to doing things differently or thinking about things differently. Though listening to music keeps me on track and brings me into the 21st century, I don't want to listen to music on race day. I want to pay attention to the course, the other runners, the spectators, and my thoughts as I run. Will I be able to run the race without music if I didn't train without it? Though the new course seems to be motivating, I really like running the lakefront because I get to see other runners like me instead of suburbanites pulling over their SUV's to take a cell call. Which is the better strategy? Can I achieve what I set out to do with one strategy if it differs from what I am supposed to do? Will a strategy that gets me through today, hurt me in my final goal?

I think sometimes strategy can get in the way of things or can make us lose sight of what we are really working toward. Recently when discussing the efforts of the Wisconsin fight against the proposed amendment against same sex marriage, an exhausted person said to me "this would be alot easier for straight people to swallow if it weren't for all of the gay men who are only about parties, drugs, and sex." To which I sort of had to laugh (after being mildly offended). It makes me think about what is going on in the Castro in SF. Now that many gay couples are beginning to sprout families, they want their old digs, the Castro, to be a "cleaner", more family friendly place. As if your ability to be visible as a gay parent would be even possible without the early visibility of places like the Castro. When strategizing our lives, I fear that we are our worse enemies. Those against us are unified in their strategy while we still need to be reminded of the definition of unity. My response to that tired person (and oh so tired comment) was "you sound just like they do. You sound just like the people you are trying to convert. You want them to see gay people as equal yet you don't believe it yourself."

To me, this marriage fight isn't about the right to marry. Hell, I fight for it and I'm not exactly sure that I would enter into marriage with my BF unless it meant better health care benefits. It's about equality - having the same rights as everyone else whether you want them or not. Because that's what rights are for. They should be there whether we need them or not. The monogamous gay couples should fight for free anonymous AIDS tests and needle exchange programs because someday they might need it. Circuit boys should fight for marriage equality because that Winterparty trick just might stick around someday. Gay men should fundraise for breast cancer research just like Lesbians raise money for AIDS research. The Castro daddies should fight for keeping the Castro the way it is because their kids should have a place to explore and discover themselves the way they did. We will never achieve equality if we don't first start seeing each other as equals. And we need to be united on that front.

Week 6