Stonewall Rebooted
Filed by: Kate Clinton
June 13, 2009 2:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/06/stonewall_rebooted.php#moreOn an early morning flight from Orlando, after appearing at the 19th Annual Gay Days at Disneyworld, I was "sirred" twice by a cab driver and flight attendant. All before 7 a.m. I would have thought the brand new faux leopard Croc flats I was sporting would have thrown them off. Or that the "Gay Day" banners everywhere would have heightened their threat levels to rainbow.
Usually I find mistaken identification an embarrassment or irritant. In past years I would correct quickly with "That's Ma'am not Sir," and then try to lessen their discomfort. But this 40th anniversary of Stonewall, I wear the gaffe as a badge of pride. I stare them down. Even if they seem remorseful, I don't help them through their moment. In solidarity with the unsung butch lesbians who were with the ->-bleeped-<-s and drag queens at the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969, I have been doing my own version of butching it up.
