queer: get over yourself

To prep the apartment for the exterminators, I left work a little early but decided to try getting in a quick errand to Home Depot to replace some light bulbs that burned out simultaneously this morning. This involved a ride on the Circulator from work over to Union Station. There weren’t a lot of people on the bus, but a combination of locals and commuters, nothing major. We were turning the corner in front of the Capitol when a nice little pack of Marines went jogging by and like any red-blooded human being, I turned, I looked & I smiled. I was ready with my ticket to the gun show.

After they’d passed and I turned around, I noticed that the guy seated 3 seats over from me had also noticed the Marines and noticed me noticing them and was giving me the stink-eye. The Oh my god, I’m sitting next to a fucking faggot, stink-eye. And he had clearly maintained his glance in my direction long enough to make sure that I saw it. For the rest of the ride–even though I paid him no mind–out of the corner of my eye I saw him looking over with disgust on his face. Now I did not touch this guy, talk to him, cruise him, look him up & down… nothing. Yet he still persisted in giving me a look that if we were being narrated in a nature show would be described as a threat display. When the bus stopped, he got off, making sure to check that I wasn’t following him–no worries there. It wasn’t really the sort of thing that could escalate into a physical confrontation, but still what the hell, man?

It reminded me of two items I’d read this morning:

• The Kids Are Alright: Some Thoughts About Same-Sex Marriage, [W]hy should I care who someone else marries??!! Even a child seems to get it.
• WBC Organizes Homophobic Anti-Obama Protest Outside Sasha And Malia’s School, again all I can say is what the hell, man? Someone advised that Westboro’s actions don’t comprise a hate crime, but I have a hard time understanding why not. I’m fairly sure that free speech and hate speech aren’t the same thing.

Likely what’s most annoying me is that the guy was black/african-american. Even though I know it’s a community with an assumed high degree of homophobia, it still sucks. We’re all trying to do our own thing, man. Can’t you just be a standard DC resident and ignore the hell out of me while you do yours and I do mine? 🙄