Conversation
Some large steps forward this past few months some would say. The Rev. Gene Robinson. The Episcopal Church takes on the issue of having an openly gay man at the helm of the church. This may not be the first but it is definitely the first one that we know about. The leaps forward in coupling rights in California, Canada and then the silence from the Supreme Court of Massachusetts is deafening. What are they thinking why so long in the ruling? The media world seems to be on fire with the Queer Eye. Seems like when the Supreme Court took the sodomy laws from all the states now we can have a show with gay guys prancing around showing all the straight guys how wonderful it is to have five us all to their own. What can we make of all of this, how do we place it in our day-to-day lives?
As time goes by, I have seen an ebb and flow of the movement. Remember the promises of Bill Clinton and the outcome, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell; remember the hope of the future being a better place for the GLBTQC community? Is it? Remember outing, when was the last time you heard of a movie star coming out of the closet? Now that we have the ability to couple in the eyes of two states and three countries where has this gotten us? California, Vermont, Canada, Belgium and Holland have made a large statement of love is love no matter with whom. The United States has made a statement of stay out of the bedroom. Okay other people on the planet catch up to freedom!
I place the recent events as the steps forward for us to see ourselves as positive influences in the world. These steps are signs that we have gained some in becoming a mature society with respect and understanding. When a society can see all of its population as individuals with rights we have a society that I would want to live in.
The GLBT community, to catch up with the whole of the society, you must have the ability to see the different parts of your community as a benefit. There are so many different parts of our community to be separated by misunderstanding or mistrust. Once we can develop as individuals without questioning the validity of our action based on the societies views or the views of your community then we can have personal freedom. To love whomever we like or to identify how we would like is freedom that comes from within but also helps when the outside world acknowledges us with open arms.
The building blocks that we have from our youth are still mostly negative stereotypes of how we as GLBT youth hear from our actions. It will take years to get rid of the words fag, queer, freak or dyke from our family, friends or society. Awareness that this is a growing society with the possibility to change its views and laws lessens my anger at the ignorance. When we treat ourselves with the respect that we expect the rest of society to treat us then maybe we will live comfortably within our own skin. Then there is how we treat others in our community. Respect and understanding is all that I am talking about here. When we have the ability to see the people in our immediate community as valuable parts of the whole then maybe we will have the ability to work with each other not isolate each other.