Love who you love.

I normally don't post about love. I leave that up to the expert, Kat, my roommate, whose blog always seems to capture both the best and the worst parts about love. But today is the exception.

I was driving back from UVA on Sunday with my students and a song came on from a current artist and one of the first-year girls said he recently "came out." No way, I said, he's not gay. She swore up and down he is. If he's gay I asked her, why are his songs about heterosexual relationships instead of gay ones? "Because Brad," she said matter of factly, "no one wants to listen to songs about gay people." She's probably right. And she didn't say it from a place of hurt, ignorance, or privilege as she is a self-identified lesbian Black woman. She knows all about privilege and the fact that she doesn't have it. (But I digress). Anyway, it made me think about her comment.

Here we are fighting on an almost daily basis for equal rights, benefits for domestic partnership, and the ability to marry whomever we choose to, yet we cannot seem to wrap our minds around the concept of popular songs highlighting or promoting gay relationships (and no, folks. Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl...and I liked it does not count.)

I'm happy today for several reasons. First, I'm happy because Rascal Flatts, my all-time favorite artist released their seventh album today, Unstoppable. Of course I've already purchased it and have it on repeat. The first track from their new album is titled "Love who you love." Here's a sample of the lyrics:

Love who you love
With all that you have
And don't waste the time that flies so fast
Love who you love
And say that you do
Hold on as tight as they'll let you
Love who you love

Rascal Flatts is known for their love ballads. What's different about this song is that there's no reference or mention to who is loving whom. And that makes me happy. I'm also happy because Vermont became the fourth state today to legalize gay marriage (joining Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa) and the only state to do so by a legislative vote.

So love who you love, and don't apologize for it, don't wait for someone else to accept it, and certainly don't ask for permission.

Love who you love...

Cheers.