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Hi, America. It’s me, Ben.

I was reading my Google Reader and found something interesting today. I thought I’d take a minute and share it with you. Go on, click it:

http://www.gaypolitics.com/2010/03/29/university-of-michigan-elects-gay-student-president/

That’s right, the University of Michigan elected a president of the student assembly who’s gay. Why does this matter? Well, I can imagine that being a state university Michigan is more liberal than other parts of the state, and Michigan has been pretty progressive on other things, but it illustrates a great point I want to make.

Remember the 1980’s? If you’re young like me, the answer is no, but we’ve no doubt heard enough stories about it. It was, we hear, kind of bohemian: colleges across the country were stocked with gays and lesbians standing out and demanding equality. They were flashy, perhaps a little bit loud, and passionate about no longer being second-class citizens. (It should be said that this didn’t happen at the many colleges who staunchly opposed anything remotely gay)

But Chris Armstrong isn’t a crusader (although he did work for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund). He’s not some mohawked, purple-hair wearing hippie (he’s a little bit preppy and rather cute, actually), and this isn’t a pride parade.

Chris Armstrong is just another in a long line of gays who want to be known for their works more than their orientation. They’re called A-Gays. Get used to them.

A-Gays are different because they’re…different. That queeny kid in your Sociology class that talks loudly on monday morning about how many blowjobs he gave the weekend previous? Not a-gay. No, the a-gay is different: he’s the one in your sociology class that actually, um, cares about the class. He’s gay, sure, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. He’s something else: smart, or talented, or unique.

I wrote an article last year about the resurgence of queens on television and how it worries people who want more civic gays on TV and fewer people running around with limp wrists and lisps. And they’re sort of right: the LGBTQ community cannot be judged solely by people like Kurt from “Glee” or Jack from “Will and Grace.”

Instead, you know that America is “there”–that we have true equality–when we can laugh at the lispy people and elect the smart gays, just like we do (or should do) with straight people, women, or racial minorities.

I leave you with this thought: Chris Armstrong is a man that’s sending a clear message to the Religious Right, by just being elected to an office with Student Government. Chris–and every other a-gay across the country–says this: stop obsessing about the person I’m having sex with and start competing with us where it counts…our work.