Neal and Gordon's Wedding - Shaved Head Acceptance

Today, at my dear friend Neal's wedding, I realized why I was so upset the other day when a man gave me a card for a "women seeking women" website. Since I still long to meet Mr. Right, the notion that my shaved head was some sort of Lesbian beacon made me panic.

This doesn't mean there haven't been times I have thought "If I can't understand men, why can't I be attracted to women?" But I'm not. Instead I'm drawn to men, usually one who is my polar opposite and very mysterious (like "why doesn't he call?").

After a week of mixed reactions to my cranial billboard, I felt greater acceptance at a gay wedding than I had anywhere this week - other than Fairfax High last Sunday and the Air New Zealand office Thursday night when our heads were re-tattooed.

The crowd of about 80 people was an equal mix of straight and gay friends and family. Perhaps I experienced such acceptance in my current state of "hairlessness" because gay people and their families know what it feels like to be ostracized for being different. This was very comforting since I had to drag myself to the wedding. As I dressed I kept thinking "How can I attend a wedding with my head shaved? Yuck. What was I thinking?"

Then I arrived at Maggiano's, felt great acceptance and witnessed a loving couple commit themselves to each other before God, family, friends and the State of California. I was once part of the Christian camp that uses scripture to discriminate quoting Genesis as stating: "God created Adam and Eve" -- not Adam and Steve.

I have since evolved and no longer try to pigeon hole people. Some people are wired differently than me. Who am I to deny any loving couple an opportunity to marry?

This is not to say I've evolved to the point where I am comfortable seeing two men kiss. But then again, I prefer movies that cut to the ocean and leave something to my imagination.

Don't all Americans have a fundamental right to the pursuit of happiness under the Declaration of Independence? How can anyone deny Neal and Gordon or any other couple (straight or gay) the right to marry and pledge themselves to each other if that gives them happiness?