Musings on War

Dear Friends,

Like the rest of us, I’ve been swept up in the drama unfolding in Eastern Europe this week.  Will he or won’t he?  Can he take down the democratically elected government of Ukraine, or will he find himself back on his heels?  Will the world rise up against Vladimir Putin, or will we just watch in horror as he swallows up a sovereign nation?  There are more questions than answers.

One trusted journalist on the ground described Kyiv as a sophisticated, modern city about the size of Chicago with its eyes on the West.  I lived in Chicago for a few years a long time ago, so that description gave me a frame of reference I might have otherwise missed.  I’ve never lived through a siege of my homeland, and yet I’ve learned a whole lot about empathy in recent years.

As my heart goes out to all the brave citizens of Ukraine, I’m wondering particularly about the fate of my LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters there.  I Googled them and learned some facts—pre-war, of course.  I learned that homosexual relations between consenting adults are legal, but that marriage equality is expressly forbidden by the Constitution.

Principles like that naturally lead to discrimination in adoption and other social/legal/medical situations.  I’m wondering where this will all land when the present danger is in the rear-view mirror.  I have no doubt that queers will fight shoulder-to-shoulder with their straight neighbors until they have secured their country.  And I’m hoping that will lead to substantive change in the future.

It’s not that a common enemy always brings humans to lay down their prejudices.  But it’s hard to hate the faggot who has your back.  I guess I’m looking for something positive to come from the current mess.  Call me Pollyanna.  I’ve been called worse.  Thanks for reading my rant.

Bruce