Good Lord it seems only yesterday. How could she be 61 already? We are a poorer nation tonight for her loss.

If Tennessee ever crawls up from the ooze that is Stacie X, someday our schoolchildren will read about her in their Contributions of LBGT Americans textbooks.

Ride, Sally Ride.

I didn't realize until today that she was lesbian.

What an inspiration she was. In 1983, she was not only the first U.S. woman in space, she was the youngest American in space.

(link...)

Her behavior wasn't criminal and I'd hate to think that upon my death my entire existence would be defined by posthumous accounts of my sexual orientation (however boring it generally has been) rather than my life's accomplishments. Just half a thought.

The other half is this, isn't it hard enough to raise kids without boiling everything down to gay and straight. Can't great people just be great people? The other half of the thought.

R.I.P. Sally, and may you be remembered for your life's work.

I'm sure she doesn't want to be remembered for having died of pancreatic cancer (that horrible thing) but that and her sexual orientation deserve to be mentioned because they are part of who she is. In previous obituaries, it wasn't polite to mention either. I'm glad things have changed.

What's worth mentioning, too, is that her long time partner won't be eligible for any survivor benefits if Dr. Ride had any such as government pensions, continuing health insurance, Social Security, etc.

Every time a heterosexual puts a photograph of a significant other on his or her desk top (s)he is declaring his or her sexual orientation to the world. The fact that it happens to be that of the majority makes it so commonplace that it is taken totally for granted. If I had done that before I retired from the bomb factory there would have been hell to pay.

That simple act would be construed as 'shoving my sexuality down some straight asshole's throat'.

Somewhere there is a lesbian kid (yes there are those of us who know at a very early age) who is constantly bombarded with the propaganda that LGBT people are evil. She needs a role model and what finer than Sally Ride?

Remember Oliver Sipple? Of course you don't. Oliver Sipple was a former Marine who saved Gerald Ford's life by deflecting Squeaky Fromme's second shot. He was thrown into the trash can of history because everybody knows a gay man can't be a hero.

Yes Betty, I remember when obituaries were coded with the phrase 'longtime companion' too.

[/soapbox]

I know your comment was not made with malicious intent. My problem with it is the fact that it's also a favorite mantra of the pseudo-Christian right. If the queers would just all crawl back into our closets, what a wonderful world it would be.

Well, Stonewall changed all that.

Kenny,

I found your words haunting and spent a bit of time today considering the civil and moral rights of homosexuals. Specifically, I was considering whether or not I was trying to walk a mile in your moccasins or whether you were blowing this up perhaps slightly more than it warranted.Then I read the paper and got to here:

(link...)

At this point, the debate began to become clear. People tend to forget that gypsies and homosexuals were targeted, as well as Jews, during the holocaust. Why should a person hate someone for a physical trait or station in life? Are we becoming what we claim to have conquered, or is that what we were to begin with? I'm ashamed to live in a community that will accept this sort of hate in the name of freedom. While I can't imagine what it's like to wake up every morning wondering if today is the day some nut job is really going to take this sort of trash to heart, I can recognize that not only does it exist, it is here.

In 2004 when Bush got elected, basically on a platform of, "Hey, I hate homos, what about you?" I was outraged at the people that supported him, not considering the potential victims. This issue clearly goes way beyond the thought I've put into it and I can only offer my humblest apologies for not seeing the world through a broader, more open window.

What has happened to America?

One final note. If Sally Ride's obituary opens up this discussion and brings forth progress, it was, by definition the right thing, and a great thing to do.

Sincerely,

Bob

Thanks Bob.

I read Reverend Bigot's effluent too. I never comment at the KNS for no good will ever come of it. I firmly believe that one day he will experience what is told in Mathew 25:40:

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Karma is indeed a bitch.

A Republican acquaintance asked me once why I never voted for Republicans. My answer was, "Name me one Republican who has done something to benefit me as a gay man."

We eventually named two who achieved that status only by falling off their perches.

A Letter to Louise by the Reverend Bruce Lowe.

Accepting for her, her partner of 27 years Tam O’Shaughnessy.

Well deserved honor.