KING of the UNITED STATES

Pieces of our heritage and vocabulary are being pilfered and co-opted beneath our noses.  A recent blog attempt of mine was rejected on a site for my use of the phrase “queer arrangement” (As in “peculiar arrangement”).  So we can’t even use the term queer anymore as an adjective describing something odd or peculiar?

This is too much.  This is not the first such loss of vocabulary in our national language household.

How about the very term “gay”?  Terminologies for happiness are a treasure in our language; here a once very widely used description of happiness has been completely and irreversibly morphed into a sexually-soaked membership card. Even Fred Flintstone was permitted to “have a gay ol’ time” without reverberations and innuendo (until lately).

And what of the rainbow?  Once a treasured symbol of redemption, post-shower sunny skies, happy children, and leprechaun’s gold… now it is a Toyota Prius window sticker for gay and lesbian unity and San Francisco liberal values.  If a child puts a rainbow on his homework crayon assignment, is he being cheery, or supporting the solidarity of the gay and lesbian social movement?

Other symbols are lost, at risk, or teetering on the brink of loss: Any double-sided hatchet or axe (called labrys…yes, what of all those dwarfs in lord of the rings!), the pioneering early risqué cartoon queen Betty Boop, the term “queen”, Scooby Doo’s Thelma, the Powerpuff Girls, Peppermint Patty & her friend Marcie, and even SpongeBob (Take Him!!).

Certain personal traits are no longer within boundaries available to all: being a well-dressed man, being a neat and tidy man, being 35 and not having found a woman who can forgive you for not being a millionaire (unmarried). And of course NO WAY can a straight man enjoy any songs by Judy Garland; don’t even try.  And don’t touch her daughter’s music either. Now you can have Liza Minnelli, but I want Shirley Bassey back, dammit! Lucy Lawless was sexy in her Amazon outfits, why does the gay community get her? And folks, Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson, Doris Day, and Elizabeth Taylor belong to everyone; let us all learn to share, please.

Finally, if our gay community is going to keep possession of the happy symbols of the rainbow and the term “gay”, then they really must refrain from being so weepy and emotionally shattered with such frequency. Its just inconsistant.

…And give Shirley Bassey back!!