Tearing Down Fences After Orlando

A  L  O  H  A !

“Homosexuality is regarded 

as shameful by barbarians 

and by those who live 

under despotic governments 

just as philosophy is regarded 

as shameful by them, "
                                      Plato

           "Not appreciating 
what we have now, 
robs us of our 
abundance even 
when it exists." 
                  Marshall Sylver





                     

Birds of a Feather

" I would not worship a 

God who is homophobic… 

I would refuse to go to 

a homophobic heaven.”

              Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Linking to

Good Fences

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Friend, it would take a novel,

or hours of conversation

for me to really explain

my connection to, and

my feeling of belonging, 

to the GLBT community.

Brave people were 

visible for 

Homosexual Rights

when I was just a 

child. But

I do remember when there

was NO GLBT community,

no rainbow flag,

no "pride."

What I remember

- and you do too -

is slurs, labels

like mental illness,

harassment and

institutionalization.

It was a life of  real

danger and fear.

But I also remember

finding a secret world,

invisible to most.

Gay was a code word.

Miraculously, one might

meet a friend

despite hiding,

and be introduced

to a secret place,

a hidden life.

And when you walked in

to your first gay bar,

it was the first time

in your life that 

you were NOT Alone,

not the only one.

A place of belonging existed;

A hidden place to be true

to yourself. To drop the

exhausting vigilance and

corrosive secrecy.

I remember the first marches

in my town. I was in them.

Those were the times of

Stonewall and Anita Bryant

bigotry. I was there when the

word  PRIDE  was claimed.

How Audacious it seemed to me!

How counter-intuitive!

What a challenge!

How revolutionary!

Today, 

June is Gay Pride Month

throughout the civilized world.

The vision, hopes,

determination,

and life's work of a 

comparative few people

has changed the world!

We have accomplished 

SO MUCH.

Just remember the disgust

and the jokes in the world

you & I grew up in.

They are still there,

if no longer

assumed and

unquestioned.

Remember the losses

to the plague of HIV

and to violence

every day.

I have my own losses;

Friends of a lifetime

that no one should 

ever have to live without.

The martyrs of Orlando

are friends of friends

in at least one case.

But they are ALL my

people, my children.

I think Orlando is 

really changing the world.

I think a lot of people

who were 'tolerant' before,

now really FEEL

what GLBT humans go 

through in this world,

and really care on a

gut level now.

Who knows, perhaps

together we are ALL

ready for commonsense

gun laws in this country.

My GLBT Family

and our allies have

already accomplished

miracles!

Thank You 

for 

Jumping

the Fence!

                          cloudia