Ground Control to Major Tom?

I was saddened to hear about David Bowie dying, I don't really follow famous people's private lives so I was not aware that he had cancer. I credit him for inspiring many of the bands that I used to listen to growing up. I was not a dedicated fan but I liked a lot of his music. I don't know a lot about music so I want to blog about him from a different angle. Besides being ground breaking in music, he was also ground breaking in the sexuality department and gender bending. As a gay boy growing up he gave me that flicker of courage, of course I kept blowing out that flicker of courage but that's another post. A part of me wants to claim him as "ours", listening to the radio stations everyone is making statements about how great he was and how everyone loved him and his music (typical), I know things have progressed but I remember things differently, better to leave those memories in the past. I feel Bowie was one of those steps that brought us to where we are today as a community. I actually don't know if he was gay or bisexual or who he was with at the end, I just have this gnawing feeling like we have lost another of the elders of our tribe.