I was given the fortunate opportunity to be a part of an extraordinary event: a witness to 8. What is 8 you ask? It is a play/reading detailing the trial that took place in California regarding Proposition 8. A few of the actors included in the play were: John Lithgow, Morgan Freeman Rob Reiner, Matt Bomer, Cheyanne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Ellen Barken, Rory O'Malley, just to name a few.
The reading itself was not very long. The stars came onto the stage taking their seats in director chairs with script books. The atmosphere was weighed with various emotions from anger, sadness to moments of elation at the actors portrayls of their real life counterparts. My favorite part was when Christine Lahti gave her speech to her twin boys about self worth, acceptance, and love. She brought forth her character's essence of a mother who would do anything for her children and continually back them in their life choices.
The play ended with a standing ovation and an invitation for the real life plantiffs to come to the stage. It was a moving night.
After the play, I had a chance to get some autographs from the stars of the show as well as meet Matt Bomer once again. By now I suppose you can say we are well acquainted with each other and after exchanging pleasantries, I had asked him if he would be able to personalize a Happy Birthday autograph for my son Mike (@MiniNealCaffrey on twitter) whose birthday was next month. Gracious as always, he did. I told him that Mike really looks up to him as a role model and I couldn't think of a better one at that. He seemed genuinely touched by my words and thanked me saying it meant a lot to him. Him being a role model to Mike means a lot to me.
With that being said, I thought I had a pretty good concept on what equality meant in the world. After seeing this....I realized my eyes had never truly been open. I think that many of us not privy to the knowledge or living outside of the intimate community of LGBT don't know all the facts. I never knew the difference between a civil union and marriage until I began to do research. So much of the knowledge we receive seeps into us from sources which are not always reliable. The other side of the story can be blocked out till we never knew it existed at all.
To me, that was what Dustin Lance Black's play was about. NOT losing the message. NOT forgetting that some truths might never be known if we don't dig a little deeper at times to find them. NOT ever giving up.
Keep up the fight, for everyone. For more info, please visit the following:
American Federation for Equal Rights
Human Rights Campaign
Broadway Impact
and be sure to follow
Dustin Lance Black
Rory O'Malley ( Broadway Impact)
