Even as I enjoy the pictures over the weekend, I’m reminded that less than 40 years ago in the U.S. being openly gay or lesbian was considered a mental illness and a crime in which you could lose your job and family, and possibly your life.

Even today as we enjoy freedoms in the United States that were paid with for with livelihoods (and some their own lives), a story in the New York Times reminds me of the ongoing struggle around the world for those same freedoms. Take the story of Pape Mbaye who’s now in New York after escaping Senegal for being gay. Here’s a snippet:

Mr. Mbaye, 24, is an entertainer from Dakar, Senegal, known there for his dancing, singing and storytelling. But while his flamboyance may be celebrated in New York, he attracted the wrong kind of attention in West Africa this year, nearly costing him his life.

In February, a Senegalese magazine published photographs of what was reported to be an underground gay marriage and said that Mr. Mbaye, who appeared in the photos and is gay himself, had organized the event. In the ensuing six months, Mr. Mbaye said, he was harassed by the police, attacked by armed mobs, driven from his home, maligned in the national media and forced to live on the run across West Africa.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/nyregion/06pape.html?oref=login

One victory that I wish was celebrated during Pride this past weekend was that this is the five year anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas. That ruling struck into the heart of legalized homophobia on many law books across the United States. Dennis Coleman of Lambda Legal and I talked about that victory during a podcast interview. Click here to go to the podcast and take a listen.

Plus, take a look at a trailer for the Lambda Legal production, “Overruled”. You may see someone familiar in the trailer.