I guarantee you that even though this is three or four paragraphs out of a couple dozen pages, I'm going to be getting hatemail about making the recap all about my sexuality. Because I always, always do. So I can't blame people for taking the easy way out, because other people are a fucking hassle. But on the other hand, gay marriage is much more interesting in this light, because: why -- if you're not a sexually mature adult with the capacity to love eternally, to create a home, to make the sacrifices of parenthood -- would you need to get married? You spend your life being socialized to be as sexless and infantile as possible, indulged when you're bitchy, encouraged to throw drama fits, every joke laughed at because you make people nervous: is it really a surprise when you're then treated like a child? I don't even really blame anybody for playing this out, because if the one thing that's unacceptable about gay dudes is what they do -- and that's not going anywhere if I have anything to say about it -- then society as a whole can be forgiven for the transitional step of taking that part out of the equation for a little while, even if it results directly in infantilization and a whole lot of tangential drama. It stops looking so much like a case for the ACLU, and a lot more like a kid wanting to stay up as late as his older brothers do, and throwing a fit when he can't instead of proving he deserves it.

It starts here with the adorable backpack and it goes in an uninterrupted line until you either ghettoize yourself into Gayworld -- which is just about the most depressing place one could ever imagine -- or lie down on the Procrustean slab of Straightworld -- where A) you are not actually ever going to be welcome and which B) not even straight people can hack because it's so fucking fucked up -- and get all your best bits chopped and rubbed and scrubbed and tortured off. Or, you choose the third option, which is to be as good a person as possible; to change and grow as often as possible; to show compassion; to represent yourself and all the groups you could conceivably belong to with honor and taste and best practice; to be strong, to honor love, to protect everybody you can; to be magnificent. Which is what you should be doing anyway, because it's your duty as a human being way before it becomes a gay thing.) Speaking of gaylords, here's Serena and Dan.