How do we get our wings?

I watched Angels in America today and I was disturbed at the end in how things ended for one of the characters—namely Joe Pitt. His character is that of a closeted gay Republican working as a law clerk. A run in with one of the other movie/play’s characters opens the closet door. The guy is no saint. His sins being marrying someone he did not love completely, cheating on her, and then still trying to salvage a relationship and base it on a lie. Still, I was hoping that all this was the dramatic struggle which would lead to peace.

At the end of the movie, we see all the characters get a satisfying ending except for Joe Pitt. At the end, he was trying to go back to his wife even though they both knew that their marriage would be a self-delusion. And his very last scene (at least in the movie) is to descend underground with the impression that he will go on as a closeted gay man who has to seek out men in the dark.

I had to wonder if the playwright and the gay left ever view a gay republican and see anything more than a loathsome creature. It is certainly a vibe that I’ve come across now and then.

There was a story not too long ago about a staffer for a Republican that was outed. He was working and associated himself with people who were anti-gay. And while he can fairly be attacked for positions that he supported, I wondered if the gay community was burning a bridge when they tore him to shreds with some advocating his death. Should there ever be a time that this staffer actively support gays and their interests, would it be welcomed?

Who is to say that man that is conservative, Republican, and religious is not worthy of entrance into the gay community? Being those three things doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is a threat to gays.