My Weekend Crush

We deserve this. We really do. After this long, infernal week filled with horrors no one should ever have to experience for our community, we deserve this. We deserve a show that celebrates the glorious spectrum of human otherness. The attack in Orlando was, indeed, an attack on LGBT people. And in particular LGBT people of color. It was an act of hate and it was an act of terror. It was fueled by the hate that still festers above and beneath the surface in this country. A hate that forces too many people to live miserably in the closet. A hate that insinuates that the simple act of going to the bathroom could somehow be harmful to children. A hate that thinks being paid to bake a cake for two people in love could be a violation of anyone’s rights. A hate that means in the state of Florida survivors of the deadliest mass shooting in United States history can still be fired the very next day for just being gay. A hate that would strike at the only place some people feel truly able to be themselves. To be free.

Yet somehow by slapping the dreaded “terror” label on this tragedy, the rest of the nation gets to conveniently gloss over those facts. There is no examination of the lingering homophobia that exists both in our attitudes and in our laws. Instead we’re just called on to rally against another other. To funnel our anger and fear into a group conveniently different from ourselves. But, guess what, we did this. This is on us and our laws. And it is up to us to fix it. So, yes, this was an act of hate and an act of terror. But we will not be terrorized. We will be seen. We will live and love and be free. So, what does this have to do with a TV show about a racially diverse, multi-cultural group of young and old lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight women in prison? Well, for one, I bet the shooter would hate this show down to his despicable core. And for another, it’s going to make a lot of gay ladies – and our queer friends and allies – really happy on a week when we deserve more than a little happiness. We deserve this. Happy weekend all.