It’s funny how much power we assign to numbers and rankings.  As a child, I can remember the playground conversations of children picking their “top friends.”  Many recall the sting of being the last to be picked for sports teams in gym.  Early on we learn that there is distinct significance to where we rank in society – and how others view us.  The power of the social caste system increases as we grow older; high school greets us with senior superlatives denoting you as “the most popular” or “the best dressed.”  By the time we enter adulthood, it is clear that the way we make our mark is in numeric listings of status.  We want to be ranked in the top of our class, in hopes that one day we may be employed by the top company in our field.  In fact, we even go on to rank places as “the best place to live” or the “the best place to raise children.”

As the Gay Men’s Outreach coordinator at AID Atlanta, I often find myself having to explain what it is exactly that I do.  I often joke that I’m a “professional homosexual.”  I’ve been called an activist, an educator, a public speaker, a fundraiser and a social advocate.  I guess I’m all of those things – and probably a few more.  At the end of the day, however, what I’m most identified with being is Gay.