I Love Nancy

I love Nancy Pelosi. There, I said it. I just have always liked her. She's smart. She's strong. She's attractive. What's not to like? I think I like her for the same reason that I liked (LOVED) Ethel Merman, Tallulah Bankhead, Mae West, Sophie Tucker, Divine, Harvey Fierstein, and the fictitious Betty Butterfield. Some personalities are just so magnetic, so winsome, so worthy of notice, that you wind up feeling connected to them. I think that's my attraction to Nancy.

Now, I don't mean to belittle her political genius. She's a good leader. I agree with many of her positions. And I am THRILLED that she will be our next Speaker of the House. She is the first woman to be the minority leader. She will be the first woman Speaker, which means she is next in line to the presidency after the Vice-President, so she will be politically the highest ranking woman in U.S. political history. I think she'll be a great Speaker and I wish her all the success in the world. But more than that, isn't she just fabulous? When you see her, don't you say to yourself, "there's a fabulous person!"?

Strong women who defy the odds and do well in a system that is meant to privilege straight, white men have always been attractive to me, and to many gay men. Their lives become a witness to anyone who has felt disenfranchised. We learn from them that we have more possibilities than we might have assumed. So, here's to Speaker Pelosi. I continue to love her.