tired...and then a phone call

I've been tired.

Not getting stressed about Evan has been fun, but it has taken some energy.

I made some genuine mistakes in my classes and the students were justifiably angry. I am in the process of cleaning that up -- successfully I think.

I have piles and piles of grading to do and I don't think I will do much this weekend other than grade.

But I just got a wonderful phone call.

Currently the PFLAG cell is with me (it is most of the time). A mother called. She said her eight year old told her she was gay. Mom wanted to know if an eight year old could know that.

I told her that I could not tell her whether her daughter was gay, but that lots of gay and lesbian people report that they knew when they were that age. Personally, I had my first crush on a boy when I was five.

What was her response? Did she say, "I don't know how to handle this?" Did she say, "I have friends who are gay, and I am okay with that -- why do I want to cry when I find out my daughter is gay?"

No. Those used to be the most common responses. We still get them sometimes, and I understand. People are where they are and we are here to help them.

This mother said, "Cool! I mean, I am SO happy my daughter feels comfortable telling me that! I am so proud of her. I could never have told my mother something so important when I was eight!"

We talked for a while. She wanted materials to take to the schools, because some other kids are teasing her daughter. She wanted recommendations for books for all three of her kids. She wanted everything I could give her.

Golly I feel hopeful.

You know what? No matter how many stupid, anti-gay laws the fundamentalists get on the ballot, no matter how many laws they got on the book, they will loose this one. Society is changing, becoming more accepting, and they cannot turn back the clock. We will undo all the stupid laws. Justice will prevail.

How do I know?

Because a mother in a small conservative town in the reddest of all the red states heard her young daughter say that she is gay and responded, "Cool!"