Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

In your imaginary award acceptance speech (yes, we know you have one), who’s the very last — and most important — person you thank?

The absolute most boring part of any awards show or event is when someone spits out a laundry list of people to thank. It is one thing to thank your family or best friend, but when you are literally churning out the names while the “get off the stage” music rolls – that’s a poor speech and an ineffective way to actually thank people. I mean the only thing we remember about Julia Robert’s Oscar acceptance speech is that she FORGOT to thank Erin Brockovich, right? Uh oh. 

Powerful and memorable speeches are grounded in the reason for the award. Yes, there are 400 people on set or involved with the production of an album or play. But finding a creative way to thank them collectively is how you show respect for the fact that the award is the result of the work of many people. And it is more interesting – for example, saying “this movie employed 127 people and their day to day work is what makes it possible for me to stand up here” is an interesting statement of appreciation and acknowledgement of the details.

However, I’ll not likely be accepting a movie award any time soon and my record contract is still in limbo, so this is really a silly question.

Obviously, the first and last person I would thank is Ledcat. She is my biggest supporter, my staunchest ally and my inspiration to get things done. I wrote about the phenomenon of people reducing her to sidekick status which I find appalling and somewhat homophobic. If you are a blogger with a partner or spouse, you know how much they contribute to your work and sacrifice for your work. If you are living with a disability, you know how much they keep you going and help you thrive in a society that is not very disability friendly.

The thing is, she knows it, too. I try very hard to stop and acknowledge her support, at least to her. I thank her and enumerate specific gestures to show that I am paying attention and I am aware that this – this blog, this life we’ve built together – is a team effort.

This week is “birthday week” for Laura – she’ll be 51 on Sunday. I’d like to thank her mother and her (now deceased) grandparents for raising such a wonderful person. I want to thank her friends for loving and caring about her in so many ways. And I want to thank her niece and nephew for inspiring her to look forward with hope and love.