Mom and Dad get the Brokeback Bug

Saturday evening. Brian has tried several times to return a call to his parents from earlier in the day. Finally, his phone rings. He checks the caller ID. Sure enough, it's Poppa's cell phone.

Brian: Hey, Dad. You guys called earlier? Where've you been?

Dad: We've been in the movies all afternoon. What are you doing tomorrow?

Brian: All afternoon? What did you see all afternoon?

Dad: We went to see Brokeback Mountain.

Brian: Alone? Did you know that's what you were seeing? Were you somehow misled into the theatre by a roaming gang of trickster homos?

Dad: Nope. Your mother and I decided to check it out. What a beautiful movie. A little sad.

Brian: I know you hate sad.

Dad: But this was great! I really liked it. -Damn Mary, shut up. Here. Here. Brian, here's your mom.

Mom: Hey sweetheart. What are you doing tomorrow.

Brian: Diving. Did John and Judy go to the movies with you.

John and Judy are their partners in crime. J&J live across the street. They've eaten dinner with J&J every Friday night since I left for college in 1996. The once-a-week dinners have grown to 3 to 4 times a week. Sometimes more. Every holiday at home involves J&J coming over for dessert, if they aren't at dinner itself.

Dad: Of course not. You know they are big, dumb redneck Republicans. They wouldn't enjoy art. Plus, they refused to go when we invited them.

Okay. You know its a milestone when your dad--the oldest of 9 Catholic children raised in Middle River, Maryland by a steelworker and a child-bride housewife (Grandma was 16 when she was married. Pop was only 17, but still)--recognizes the homophobia in others. My dad is 63 years old. A devout Roman Catholic who was, for nearly 10 years, a Holy Cross Brother. He rarely talks politics and certainly isn't a crusading liberal activist. But one thing is clear, that the love for his son transcends anything he was raised with, learned with age, or picked up late. Having a gay son has really been a force for positive change in my parents.

Granted, you don't have to be gay, want to be gay, like gays, have gay children, had a lesbian experience in college or voted for John Kerry to enjoy Brokeback Mountain. It's a great film and beautiful story. But it still makes me proud that my parents went and saw it. In a theatre no less.