Thursday, June 16, 2016

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





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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