A Quandary

The Westboro Baptist Church yesterday confirmed the passing of founder and former pastor Fred Phelps, Sr.  While I took a great deal of delight in yesterday's An Imagining post, I am left in a quandary at the confirmation of his demise.  I am fighting the overwhelming urge to break into riotous rejoicing by choosing to reflect on his legacy to the world.  Fred was nothing if not loud, akin to the infamous clanging cymbals of the Bible.  Fred was prolific in his vociferous denigration of the LGBT community, the victims of AIDS, 9-11, school shootings, fallen soldiers and natural disasters.  Yet by his very vociferousness, Fred forced mainstream America to acknowledge that yes, Gay people do exist.  We are not some curiosity to be swept under the rug or hidden away in that closet so no one can see us.  America had to confront their fear of the unknown and the marginalized. 

However, in the process, Americans came to know Gay folks as friends, neighbors and family members.  A surprising (to them) thing happened as they got to know us as Gay people.  They discovered that we were people just like them, good, bad or indifferent, but just people nonetheless.  Funny thing about getting to know someone face to face, it is much harder to hate someone you know than a nameless, faceless boogieman of your own imagining.  For this, we must thank Fred who singlehandedly (and with the help of his followers) advanced the cause of equality immeasurably.  Although his aim was to eradicate homosexuality, he brought to light the beauty and humanity of all those he sought to marginalize.  While he may forever be a caricature of the hateful, bile spewing bigot whom no one wants to become, he should be remembered as one of the fulcrums upon which equality for all was leveraged.  I just hope that we as Gay folks can be more gracious to his family and friends in the hour of their grief than was ever afforded even one of us by him or his followers. 

The words of Martin Luther King seem to be appropriate in this instance:

"At times we are able to humiliate our worst enemy. Inevitably, his weak moments come and we are able to thrust in his side the spear of defeat. But this we must not do. Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr., Dexter Avenue Baptist Church; Montgomery, Alabama, Christmas Sermon, 1957. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your Friday Musical Moment features Piano Concerto Number 1, Opus 11 by Frederic Chopin with a performance by Evgeny Kissin and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta from their 2011 75th Anniversary Concert.  You may also hear Kissin's 1995 Carnegie Hall performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto Number 1 over on my tumblr. 

Finally for today is a salute to the hirsute with this week's edition of Furry Friday on display for your appreciation below the video.  You may also want to check out the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for sharing a part of your Friday with me, have a fabulous weekend.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Eyes On The Prize

Today is the day we celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. here in the USA, a federally recognized holiday on the closest Monday to his birthday which was yesterday, January 15.  Dr. King was the foremost leader in the American Civil Rights movement of the 1960's who eschewed the non-violent protest practices he learned from Mahatma Gandhi.  One of his closest advisers and the architect of the 1963 March on Washington was Bayard Rustin, a Gay Man.  Both Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King were proponents of Civil Rights for all minorities including the LGBTQ Community.  Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.  The essence of his philosophy is in the following quote:

"All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an    inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."

That is as true today as it was when he first spoke the words.  I am sure there will be more than enough articles et cetera written for you to read today so I will not belabor the point other than to reiterate my profound respect for the man and his methods.  One of his favorite sayings was "Keep your eyes on the prize" meaning we could endure all things as long as we were focused on the "prize" of equality which we as Gay people still seek today.  In keeping with this saying, today's featured musical composition is known as the "Prize Symphony" which is Symphony Number 5 in C Minor, Opus 52 (1835) by Franz Lachner.  Franz Paul Lachner (2 April 1803 – 20 January 1890) was a German composer and conductor.  Lachner was a well-known and prolific composer in his day, though he is not now considered a major composer. His work, influenced by Ludwig van Beethoven and his friend Franz Schubert, is regarded as competent and craftsman-like, but is now generally little known.  His Symphony Number 5 was a gargantuan work for its time, comparable to works by Schubert and Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  Today's performance is by the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Paul Robinson and runs just over an hour albeit a beautiful hour of listening pleasure.   Following the video is this week's edition of Monday's Undies to help keep your libido in tune for this holiday Monday.  Thanks for stopping by, see you again tomorrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!