Secret candy

The title of today's blog is also the title of a song/poem by an artist I really enjoy. Her poetry always makes me think, and I've thought out several topics that I could talk about based on lines from her songs. Today's lyric is as follows:

"I ain't got no 'tience this time of year/for all you frat boys dissin' on the queers"

July has begun and June is over, and so another year of pride parades have happened all over the country. My sister and I used to go with our dads to pride every year, but I haven't been in several years. We have relatives that live across the country and so our summers get packed full of trips and visits. I love visiting with my relatives, but I do regret not being able to show my support at Pride. I am passionate about equality, and I find it to be a great injustice that my parents aren't allowed to be married.

I feel extremely lucky to have been raised in the environment that is my family. I have learned that families come in all shapes, colors, sizes, and many different mixes of parents. I've lived in Seattle for the entirety of my remembered life (other than flashes), so I have been fortunate in that regard as well. As a whole, the greater Seattle area is very progressive and open to homosexuality.

I don't want today's post to be about my family situation though. I want to talk about the issues in a broader sense. Shortly after pride, I was on Facebook. A friend of mine had her status as a link to this article. I read it and was amazingly moved by the content. In case you don't want to read it, here's a quick overview: this year there was a different kind of Christian demonstration at some pride parades across the country; namely Chicago. Groups of Christians went wearing black t-shirts that read "I'm sorry" on the front of them, and carrying signs that said things like "I'm sorry for how the church has treated you."

I know that Catholicism and many of the other major religions say that homosexuality is wrong, and I've listened to many arguments about how God created man and woman to be together. But I know from my own experience that love is not meant to be curbed or stopped. I look around at all the "wrong" in the world, and I cannot bring myself to believe that any two people loving each other is anything less than beautiful.

I only wish the rest of the world could see that sometimes.

I think it's easy to stand back, not knowing anyone personally who is gay or lesbian or bi, and say that it's wrong. I think it gets much harder to say that something is wrong when someone you love or at least know is doing it.

Anyway, amidst all the stories that come out after pride about demonstrations where people carried signs that said "God hates the fags," this story really touched me.

Cheers,

-T.A.D.