Like the good second semester senior that I am, I picked up and left last Sunday to spend the first three days of classes being a drunken mess in D.C. The atmosphere in D.C. was decidedly positive and infectiously patriotic. After drinking too early on Monday, I spent the afternoon throwing shoes at a blow-up Bush in Dupont Circle, and my gay best friend (GBFF) and I toured some of the bars in town, sampling the various men the city had to offer.

It’s always such a joy to go to gay bars in places like D.C. and New York where good-looking young professionals are bountiful. This was especially nice when I consider my last few weeks of winter break that saw me hooking up with 41-year-olds in the Castro and dancing with my hand on my wallet in the ghetto gay bars of California’s central valley, fearing thug gays instead of flirting with them. With all the ruckus surrounding the inauguration and the new administration, contrasts were inevitable and highly noticeable in a number of ways.

Not wanting to sleep on my friend’s hardwood floor again, my GBFF and I went home with an ex-boyfriend of mine and slept on his uncle’s basement couch. We woke up the next morning to embark upon what can only be described as a state-warranted utter shit show. The hours spent waiting in line with the huddled masses and being moved through barricades like herds of cattle were worth it. The atmosphere was joyous, but as the ceremony began, two things that seemed completely out of place in the progressive fervor of the occasion struck me: The cultish over-emphasis on religion and the somewhat consequential disregard and disrespect for gays.

President Obama’s decision to allow the bigoted Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation was both alarming and offensive. In December, Ann Curry of NBC interviewed Rev. Warren, and on the topic of homosexuality, she asked him, “If science finds that this is biological, indisputably … would you change your position?” He responded, “No … We all have biological predispositions … You say because I have natural impulses to the same sex, I shouldn’t have to reign them in. Well I disagree. I think that’s part of maturity, I think that’s part of delayed gratification, I think that’s part of character.”

Obama had the opportunity to choose from many amazing and inspiring American figures to deliver the invocation, and in his choice symbolize the new direction of his administration. But who did he choose? A man who believes that gays are immature hedonists, lacking all semblance of character. I’m all about the Left reclaiming — or at least defusing — the religious stronghold of the Right, but to most of us, this was just an example of another president easily bending over for the Right.

A man who describes homosexuality as “not the natural way,” explaining that “some body parts are meant to fit together,” is not a sign of change and hope. Rather, this type of ignorance is a glaring and malignant reminder of the petty-minded religiosity that marked the Bush administration. To stand there on the Mall surrounded by hope and excitement only to be cock-slapped in the face by a mega-church entrepreneur of hate was categorically disappointing.

On top of the gay issue, I was offended by the level of religion evoked on the day in general. I know it’s traditional to have a psycho religious leader deliver the invocation — Clinton had Billy Graham, after all — but I was hoping that Barack might be different.

To his credit, Obama did select a more forward-thinking reverend than did Clinton. Despite his conservative positions on abortion and same-sex marriage, Warren has indeed called on the church to also focus its efforts on fighting international poverty and disease, expanding educational opportunities for the marginalized and caring for the environment. If religion isn’t going away any time soon, I suppose Warren represents a positive trend to the Left. However, his vocal opposition to gay rights and this issue of same-sex marriage in California should have been ample reason to exclude him from an inaugural ceremony that purportedly championed progress and open-mindedness.

I was a good gay and turned my back to the Capitol when Rev. Warren delivered his address. Yet it made me sad that I had to consciously dissent on what should have been a day untainted by bigotry.