I'm delighted that an openly gay man is now the White House's social secretary (although one wonders how many closeted gay men have been involved in organizing social events at the White House over the centuries). And he has a beagle! More encouraging is that he won this job the old-fashioned way - by lobbying, networking, fund-raising, and being a loyal Democrat. Money quote:
“There was never a party he did not like to go to.”
Still there's something a little ghettoish about the jobs he has held: National Endowment for the Humanities followed by social secretary. Wake me up when there's an openly lesbian woman running the Department of Homeland Security or Justice or on the Supreme Court - or any job in the cabinet. And then there's the classic Washington power-couple dynamic. His ex-boyfriend is finance director for the DNC. No wonder the DNC front-group, HRC, is so excited. Still, it's a good sign that open sexual orientation is no longer a bar to the same greasy pole so many others slide up and down in this town.
More daring: 3 MPs in the new Irish parliament are openly gay. That's about the same as the US Congress, except Ireland has 4.4 million people and the US over 300 million. Over the pond, the England cricket team's wicket-keeper has also come out as gay. Money quote:
"It was a fantastic thing to do, telling the lads. The difference is huge. I am so much happier."
Again, wake me up when an active 24-year-old NBA or NFL player does the same.