POEM: The Year's Most Popular Articles

It is winter. The earth has made its yearly rounds,
and the nights, they say, have never been longer.
The windows are lit for the holidays, and each
reveals a different scene. A man kisses his husband
in one of 35 states. A movie star dresses her child in
a suit and tie. A transgender woman holds a stone like
a dare for a Bible-quoting councilman. "Abomination,"
he sneers, and the pope says, "God
is not afraid of new things."

The Westboro Baptist Church makes travel
plans for Iraq. They pack signs and sweaters,
and somewhere, a wedding cake goes unmade.

Six straight women stand in front of mirrors. Gay men
should avoid these women --at all cost.

Lights flicker. A young man weighs myths
against a bottle of blue pills. Polaroids
offer an extraordinary glimpse into the pre-AIDS
gay sexual culture, of patrons standing at the front office
counter with notices about T-shirts, poppers, and towels.

Russia.

An activist dies at home beside hir partner of 22 years.
"Remember me as a revolutionary communist," ze
concludes, and across the world, the male classmates of
a transgender student wear skirts in solidarity.

"I was always taught at school to accept who you are,"
the student says. "I am only trying to live that."

In a year, there are moments that change LGBT comedy
forever. There are ways to get young people to talk
about HIV. There are famous gay fathers, and "brazen
homosexual content" in Utah plays, and couples
who have been in love for more than a decade.

Ten gay men kiss for the first time to the tune of
"We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow." Many
others died in the closet last Thursday.

One by one, the lights extinguish. The stars,
even the coolest straight ones, flee the
sky. If last year had a name, it would be
Felicia. Because it is time to say,"Good-bye!"