I’m Your Man. Really. I am.

I’m supposed say some words tonight. Relatively, this one will be a very short speech and a small, mostly friendly crowd. I don’t know how many times I’ve done such since all these politics got set off for us a couple years ago, but it hardly ever works out great by my measure.

I don’t mind public speaking in general, but I’m no great orator. On top of that, the thing I’m most often asked to speak about is my family. Why we had children? What does family mean to us? What does love mean? All that is dangerous territory; I have to watch where I tread to not find myself showing strong emotion, no matter the circumstances or required decorum. But, I’ll not apologize for that :-). Typically, if I must avoid feeling it too strongly and openly, I’ll prepare something, and say it over and over until it’s pat, but who wants that to be pat?

In a way, it’s all a bit and subtlety dehumanizing, to put yourself out there in politics, but, at the same time, I think it needs to be done. Someone in our position should do it, or else the other side gets to frame the whole thing, and we’ll find ourselves with a bigger problem. It can make a positive difference, I hope. I suspect it’s a way to protect our family and others like us. It’s a way to state our case, to try to get those who’d never know such a family to merely see us, and I’ve this notion that it’s more difficult to harm people you’ve seen and heard :-). But I really don’t know.

Of course, there’s much that I’m sure is not too productive, and a line has to be found. I promptly trashed the solicitation from Trading Spouses (or the similar show?) we got last year. Can you imagine? I know I don’t want a week trying to show a stranger, one no doubt picked to be hostile, that we’re also human, with R away, let alone with a camera crew living in our home, and I’m sure the kids wouldn’t appreciate it on many more levels :-).

The invitation for tonight was received long while ago, via an email sent out to many families. I told R, no, we’d not do it this time. It’s someone else’s turn. He didn’t argue a bit, as he doesn’t speak either way (He just stands by my side and looks handsome :-)). A month passed and then we got a call asking us personally to do this; no people (or not enough?) with our particular sort of home decided to reply to the email.

I absolutely can’t blame them. Some here don’t have their parental rights established legally; some work in the closet; some have families who’d disown them if they went from endurably gay to openly gay. But we are greatly free of such problems, and, as bad at it as I am, I am your man :-)… though, for a limited time (once the kids get old enough to understand why I’m up there speaking, I don’t think we’ll want to speak). Anyway, again at that realization, I said yes, of course. The thought of not having representation eats at me, and so here I am.

Funny, though, I’m supposed to speak about why I want to be there and speak. And I do want and appreciate the opportunity. And I’m glad to have it… if no one else or more eloquent will take it. But how to phrase that the right way ;-)?

(As with some of my current event posts, this was not posted on the same day it was written. It went okay, went as expected, but I was once again misquoted, and apparently said something off-putting I didn’t say in my alternate reality :-)… Maybe I’ve a memory problem.)