Its been quite a month!  First, I was invited to a funeral.  My presence was specifically requested at the proper sendoff of  a proud gay veteran who had served his nation in World War II.  I consider it my duty and honor to be there to salute the flag on the coffin of a gay veteran!  And so, knowing that, his gay friends asked me to come and do that.  The service was at a very big proper church in suburbia with a resounding organ and a soloist singing Ave Maria so soulfully that it brought tears to everyone's eyes.  So as to avoid disturbing the mourning relatives of the vet, we quietly arranged to do the salute outside, as the flag draped coffin was brought out of the hearse, before the flag was replaced with a religious covering in the narthex.  But, suddenly everyone was outside with us because they all felt that this honorary bit of military ceremony was an essential part of the funeral service.  An elderly man in a Korean War vets hat quietly walked over and stood next to me to render the flag salute side by side.  "Who was that?" I asked a gay friend of the vet.  "That," I was told in a thick Irish brogue, "was the deceased vet's twin brother!"  He didn't have to come over and stand next to 'the gay vet,' he could have stood right next to his wife and family.  But, it seems that he wanted to make it clear that we were welcome, respecting who his brother was, and he wanted to share honoring his brother with a proper salute.  After that, we shook hands and he went back to his family as we all filed into the church for the service.  Times are changing, progress is upon us.  It was all as normal as could be.