this might get to a point...
I'm not here for arguing, just discussion. Only because I'm curious, love a good convo, and there are many things I just don't understand. Plus, I see no sense in arguing what I feel. I have no facts, I might actually have very little logic, but I know what I feel, and to me that can't be helped and shouldn't be apologized for...
If you know me at all, you know that I am a strong supporter of GLBT (gay, lesbian, bi, transgender) rights. What I find most interesting about this is that I've never been any other way, never thought to be any other way. I honestly have no idea exactly how either of my parents feel about GLBT. I went to Catholic church growing up, but don't remember much of anything being said about it. And it certainly wasn't a hot topic of discussion with people persuading me at my elementary school... No, the most I probably knew about any of it at an early age would have been people using "gay" as a word to offend or a cousin talking about "faggots" and "homos" as if they were the scum of the earth. Being in ballet, I guess I was exposed to more of this world and began to understand more as I got a little older. No, not all male dancers are gay - absolutely not - but some were and I guess the dance/theater world is generally more receptive to the (dare I say it) "lifestyle" of GLBT (maybe due to so much of the androgyny and crossdressing in dance/theater? haha, I don't know...that's another point). Anyway, as a teen, I still giggled when we would talk about so-and-so being gay, and when I found out about someone being lesbian I may have worried for a second about her checking me out in the dressing room. I sum all that up, though, as typical and naive...not definitive. Getting older still, junior high/high school, I was "exposed" (such a lame word here, but whatever) to more GLBT. Capital (my high school) was extremely diverse and, I think at least compared to other schools, fairly accepting. There were so many people, you were bound to find your crowd somewhere, so even if people were assholes, you usually had some support to turn to. So, I saw more, and I cared less. I realized my giggling was silly, my concerns unnecessary, and that that cousin's comments about "fags" and "homos" didn't just make me uncomfortable, they pissed me off.
So, an opinion had been formed. I was a supporter of GLBT. No one convinced me to be this way. I didn't watch a friend get hurt, and suddenly feel compassion toward a certain group. I just was. It is what it is. Nothing has changed other than my level of support, my belief in my opinion, and my willingness to be more vocal about it.
What prompted this entry? Well, a friend, who for a time was a supporter, has changed his mind and posted a note about why. I totally respect this guy's opinion and anyone else's that differs from mine in any way...it is what it is. The thing is, though, i just don't get it. So, again, it's not about arguing, it's just about understanding. Maybe we never will, but at least we can try...
I don't go to church now. Maybe that's my problem. I've never read much of the Bible on my own other than isolated scriptures. That's probably my problem too. But that's just me. Love me or hate me. Altogether, I've learned a little about several religions, and I've taken what I can from each, resulting in a basic tenet of love, which suits me and keeps me positive. Therefore, love is my religion. I see nothing wrong with love. In fact, don't many religions support love too? If I'm mistaken, please let me know. Isn't acceptance a common tenet as well? Am I wrong? Or is it love and acceptance, except we expect you to change within a certain time period or we will shun you? I'm not trying to be sarcastic, quite the opposite actually. I just don't get it. And didn't Jesus supposedly preach unconditional love? Or am I just completely out of the loop here? Yea, yea... we love, we accept, we just think you're wrong, we actually don't support you, and, oh, by the way, you're going to hell. No, I'm sorry, that just doesn't work for me; it never did. I know I'm simplifying things, please don't think that I'm so dumb not to realize that, but this is what I see. This is the message I'm getting, and this is what I cannot understand.
I don't know if was born supporting gays, maybe not, but I wasn't conditioned to support them either. I just grew up, and I saw love and I saw hate; I saw acceptance and I saw discrimination - love and acceptance just felt better. I didn't choose, it just was. I don't choose who I love either. I don't choose who I find attractive. I don't choose who turns me on. I have no clue if I was born this way - if I was born to love Mark, if I was born to be attracted to or turned on by whomerver - I have my ideas, but I have no clue...how could I? How could anyone? But at the same time, I know not a single person in my life has conditioned me to feel the things I feel. It is what it is. It's confusing, it's ridiculous, it's life. Why can't we just let it be, and why can't we just accept and love and support and move on? Is it really that hard? Is it really so wrong to let people be happy and let them do what makes them feel good? Is it really our business who puts what where, and, more importantly, to judge and discriminate based upon that? Because really, that's what it comes down to isn't it?
Let it be. It is what it is.
If you know me at all, you know that I am a strong supporter of GLBT (gay, lesbian, bi, transgender) rights. What I find most interesting about this is that I've never been any other way, never thought to be any other way. I honestly have no idea exactly how either of my parents feel about GLBT. I went to Catholic church growing up, but don't remember much of anything being said about it. And it certainly wasn't a hot topic of discussion with people persuading me at my elementary school... No, the most I probably knew about any of it at an early age would have been people using "gay" as a word to offend or a cousin talking about "faggots" and "homos" as if they were the scum of the earth. Being in ballet, I guess I was exposed to more of this world and began to understand more as I got a little older. No, not all male dancers are gay - absolutely not - but some were and I guess the dance/theater world is generally more receptive to the (dare I say it) "lifestyle" of GLBT (maybe due to so much of the androgyny and crossdressing in dance/theater? haha, I don't know...that's another point). Anyway, as a teen, I still giggled when we would talk about so-and-so being gay, and when I found out about someone being lesbian I may have worried for a second about her checking me out in the dressing room. I sum all that up, though, as typical and naive...not definitive. Getting older still, junior high/high school, I was "exposed" (such a lame word here, but whatever) to more GLBT. Capital (my high school) was extremely diverse and, I think at least compared to other schools, fairly accepting. There were so many people, you were bound to find your crowd somewhere, so even if people were assholes, you usually had some support to turn to. So, I saw more, and I cared less. I realized my giggling was silly, my concerns unnecessary, and that that cousin's comments about "fags" and "homos" didn't just make me uncomfortable, they pissed me off.
So, an opinion had been formed. I was a supporter of GLBT. No one convinced me to be this way. I didn't watch a friend get hurt, and suddenly feel compassion toward a certain group. I just was. It is what it is. Nothing has changed other than my level of support, my belief in my opinion, and my willingness to be more vocal about it.
What prompted this entry? Well, a friend, who for a time was a supporter, has changed his mind and posted a note about why. I totally respect this guy's opinion and anyone else's that differs from mine in any way...it is what it is. The thing is, though, i just don't get it. So, again, it's not about arguing, it's just about understanding. Maybe we never will, but at least we can try...
I don't go to church now. Maybe that's my problem. I've never read much of the Bible on my own other than isolated scriptures. That's probably my problem too. But that's just me. Love me or hate me. Altogether, I've learned a little about several religions, and I've taken what I can from each, resulting in a basic tenet of love, which suits me and keeps me positive. Therefore, love is my religion. I see nothing wrong with love. In fact, don't many religions support love too? If I'm mistaken, please let me know. Isn't acceptance a common tenet as well? Am I wrong? Or is it love and acceptance, except we expect you to change within a certain time period or we will shun you? I'm not trying to be sarcastic, quite the opposite actually. I just don't get it. And didn't Jesus supposedly preach unconditional love? Or am I just completely out of the loop here? Yea, yea... we love, we accept, we just think you're wrong, we actually don't support you, and, oh, by the way, you're going to hell. No, I'm sorry, that just doesn't work for me; it never did. I know I'm simplifying things, please don't think that I'm so dumb not to realize that, but this is what I see. This is the message I'm getting, and this is what I cannot understand.
I don't know if was born supporting gays, maybe not, but I wasn't conditioned to support them either. I just grew up, and I saw love and I saw hate; I saw acceptance and I saw discrimination - love and acceptance just felt better. I didn't choose, it just was. I don't choose who I love either. I don't choose who I find attractive. I don't choose who turns me on. I have no clue if I was born this way - if I was born to love Mark, if I was born to be attracted to or turned on by whomerver - I have my ideas, but I have no clue...how could I? How could anyone? But at the same time, I know not a single person in my life has conditioned me to feel the things I feel. It is what it is. It's confusing, it's ridiculous, it's life. Why can't we just let it be, and why can't we just accept and love and support and move on? Is it really that hard? Is it really so wrong to let people be happy and let them do what makes them feel good? Is it really our business who puts what where, and, more importantly, to judge and discriminate based upon that? Because really, that's what it comes down to isn't it?
Let it be. It is what it is.