A break from my planned programming.....

Hello All. What follows is a copy and pasted Facebook post I made last night. I will return to blogging about my trip tomorrow, but this really got to me. Here is the post: I hope I can write this coherently. Tonight I was gigging with my group The PopTarts. As we were getting ready to start a man gave me the finger - I mean not flicking me the bird - but forcefully pushing his hand toward me with his middle finger up. I turned around thinking I must be mistaken. When I turned back he was still at it. It took me about 3 seconds to realize he was upset that we were wearing our rainbow boots and hats (an outfit we wear often and which had been chosen for this gig about a week ago and not to celebrate anything!). He started raving about having his granddaughters with him and he wasn't going to take this gay pride shit. He left with his, I presume wife, and granddaughters leaving me in a state of shock. Who thinks waving your middle finger at a group of women who sing 60s girl group songs is going to impress your grandchildren?? To the credit of the rest of his table and the other people at the club - who all stayed and had a great time - everyone said he was an ass and had been kicked out of 2 clubs already for his awful behavior. Still I was shaken. I have been in bands all my life. I have been in situations where I thought I might be raped or worse. Been pushed around by a would be boyfriend. But this was so shocking to me - more than anything that's ever happened to me. I was, by accident of birth, born a straight, white woman and have never been personally subjected to this kind of hate. It breaks my heart to think of all the people who deal with this hateful anger every day. All I can say is I will not stand for this in my life. It is time, people, for all of us who want to live and let live to set these hate mongers straight. We need to find a way to live in peace with everyone. The world depends on us to be strong and show respect to each and every person we meet. Thanks for listening and for showing up in your life and making a difference.