Although these awards and titles were certainly not necessary, I am proud of them. I have been named Kansan of the Year and the American Legion’s Woman of the Year. I have received the FAME Award from the Music Educators National Conference in Washington, D.C., and numerous other accolades. Typically, before I walk up onstage to accept an award, someone reads a prepared speech that highlights reasons why they have chosen to honor me. More often than not, at some point in the speech, the declaration is made: “Chely Wright is a great person and a fine American.” If those people reading their speeches knew that I am a gay woman, would they say that about me? I doubt that Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Cheney would have invited me to their home in Washington, D.C., to entertain. I doubt that I would have been invited by President and Mrs. Bush to sing before our commander in chief took the stage for a speech in Seoul, South Korea. I wonder, if the world had known that I was gay, would I have been invited to be the grand marshal of the Veterans Day Parade in New York City?
