Behr Pick: Painted Hunk

As we say good-bye to June Pride and hello to July, here's a colorful reminder that Pride doesn't have to happen once a year. We can be proud, loud, and fabulous all year long.

This is perhaps especially true as those of us in the U.S. prepare to celebrate Independence Day. We are Americans of which - deep down - we are proud to be. As gay Americans, that pride is tarnished by our second class citizenship. It's a tough place to be. Just because of who we love and who we are.

In Del Shores' "Sordid Lives," Ty, the gay character, talks about how he loved church as a boy and he misses church as a gay adult. He then says "How do you embrace something that doesn't embrace you?"

That's America. We love this country because it does afford us many freedoms; just not the same freedoms as everyone else. We love this country because, despite its many shortcomings, it is the greatest country on the face of the earth. But is that enough? Do we continue to embrace this great country that does not embrace us? Or is it time to abandon our complacency and step up to the plate to issue a call to action? Do we fight back? And when I say fight, I mean FIGHT. Do we dare rise up against the democratic aristocracy that is known as Congress and the clergy? Do we become like the French Resistance fighters of WWII or those who ran the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War? Do we truly have a cause worth fighting for?

I don't know the answer. But this July 4 as we barbecue, watch fireworks and perhaps get a little drunk - let's examine ourselves and our situation and ask ourselves: are we satisfied with being just Americans? Or do we want to be GAY Americans?

BEHR HUGS!!