It seems ironic, that here I am a very gay man, and the thing that brings me to be writing about a guy’s genitals is something about a straight dude who was sexting pics to women. So many in the anti-gay movement think that genitals are all we fags ever thinks about. How funny that the actions of a Straight married heterosexual is prompting this blog post! For the record, Straight (STR8) guy’s genitals are of no real interest to this gay man. If a STR8 guy is going to capture my attention, it is generally his smile, arms and chest that grab my interest for a fleeting second, and then I’m over it. But what attracts me isn’t meant to be the topic of this post. If you really want to know what turns me on about a guy, I’ll write about that another time.

So Weiner was caught sexting with women, and the Democratic establishment, including the President has put enough pressure on him, that he has resigned. WTF!!! (Look it up if you don’t know what it means.)

Here we have David Vitter who has participated in illegal activity, soliciting sex from prostitutes, but no pressure was placed on him to resign, and in fact he was re-elected! But the Democratic establishment is so worried that Weiner’s weiner will be a distraction and harm their chances of doing better in the next election. Who cares if his actions are truly a problem- just don’t let there be any distraction! The GOP is not the only party of hypocrits! If governing is what really mattered, this would be a non-issue and the Democrats would sail to victory by being effective leaders! That is too much to ask I guess.

But enough has been written about Weiner’s sexting, and the larger philosophical issues involved, not to mention the various prurient aspects of it. I want to talk about what this has to do with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans rights.

What does it say about the Democratic party when consensual legal activity between two adults can bring out the prude in the party? Is it any wonder that we get so little real and meaningful advances out of the Democratic leadership of the House and Senate when it comes to LGBT issues- when by the very nature of it- LGBT is a sexual minority, not well understood by the majority? The Democratic Party machine cares most about winning, even when they are their own worst enemy, and they will throw anyone under the bus if they are afraid of them rocking the boat too much. So Weiner’s weiner is too much, and you can bet that what gays, lesbians, bisexuals and trans do with their bodies is also too much. Sure, in theory, they are all for Equality, except when that theory becomes real flesh and blood stuff like non-discrimination protections.

There is a reason why the Far Right gets so much mileage out of their shock soundbite of “Bathroom Bill.” Because underneath all of the politically correct bullshit about Equality, even many progressives get squeamish when it comes to real weiners (or other genitals).

If we are going to see progress on LGBT issues, it will only come about when gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans persons take matters into their own hands and demand fair and respectful treatment by others. Not because of what happens legally or legislatively, but despite what rights we do or do not have.

Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that pushing for legislative advances and protections is unimportant. I believe it is extremely important! But, no matter how important it is, we will get thrown under the bus too if it is believed that our real life needs are going to be a distraction. So, we can’t wait for those in Government to make it be all right. We, each and every one of us, have to make it all right. we do this by refusing to be treated as a second class citizen where ever we can. We do this by being out and proud, and then expecting others to treat us with the same level of respect that we treat ourselves. We do this by pushing our elected officials about our issues rather than wait for them to invite us along.