Leap Before You Look

Today was both Throwback Thursday and Date Night for Mr. Waste and me. Yes, even after 18 years together we still go out on dates — love still has a hold on our hearts.

We didn’t have much time between work and our surprise event. Well, it was a surprise for me. That’s the rule about Date Night: One person plans, and the other can’t know what’s going to happen. Short on time, we threw back some pad thai woon sen from Tommy Thai, one of our Capitol Hill faves. With mouths on fire, we leapt into the Miata convertible and were off to DU.

Date Night on a college campus? This could get interesting. Were we going to pledge ourselves to some fraternity of hot men? Break out the paddles, boys! Forget Gamma Gamma Gamma. Give me Spanka Spanka Spanka.

Sadly, a night of college-bound bondage was not on the menu. Instead, we found ourselves at the Gates Concert Hall for the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus Pride Concert. They were also ready for a night of throwback — all the way back to the 70s. They were unveiling the Colorado premiere of “I Am Harvey Milk” by Broadway’s Andrew Lippa.

But before they got to this amazing masterpiece, they threw back their hair in honor of some fabulous divas including Cher, Cindy Lauper, Madonna, Patti LaBelle, and P!nk. The Denver Women’s Chorus small ensemble Take Note! wove into song a delightful mashup of Rick Springfield’s “Jesse’s Girl” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Simply brilliant. I am a big fan of mashups and this one gets a triple-nipple salute.

Mayor Michael Hancock surprised the sold-out audience with a city proclamation: June 12 will be forever known as Denver Gay Men’s Chorus Day. That will give them something to sing about for years to come.

Then it was on to the Harvey Milk musical. For those historically challenged, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay city official ever elected in the United States. He was one of the early fathers of the gay rights and coming out movement. He paid dearly for his openness when he was assassinated in 1978, along with Mayor George Moscone, in San Francisco.

“I Am Harvey Milk” does not take a chronological approach to the activist’s life. Instead you are strapped into a roller coaster ride of emotion covering everything from bully name-calling, “Sticks and Stones,” to a mother’s child-rearing lament of self-doubt, “Was I Wrong?”

The song that really resonated with me was “Leap.” The lyric “leap before you look” has become my new motto for life. Take a risk. Act, don’t think. Put yourself out there. If you hesitate, you will not achieve anything great or worthwhile. It’s how Harvey Milk lived his life. He did not ask for permission; he just begged for forgiveness later. But in the case of Harvey Milk, there was nothing that needed forgiving. He lived his life openly and honestly. He came out of the closet before most had the courage to do so. And he pulled the rest of us along for a ride to GLBT equality.

So leap before you look the next time you’re faced with a tough decision. Courage will take you farther than you think.