Hope for the Future!

When I was in high school, back in the early 80's, I had a dear friend who was gay. Looking back now, I had a lot of friends who were gay, but they were not "out" In fact, a lot of them were pretending to be straight because admitting those feelings to anyone, even yourself was taboo.There was a stigma attached to it that something was wrong with you. People used words like "fairy" and "faggot" in every day conversation without thinking anything of it. In spite of all of this my friend decided in 1982 that he would not deny who he was and was very open about his homosexuality. The phrase "coming out" didn't really exist back then, or if it did, I hadn't heard it used, but my friend was "Out" I often worried about him because threats were made by ignorant people who somehow were threatened by my sweet friend's refusal to deny himself. I loved my friend and was concerned for him, but I never made a public stance in support of his choices. Back then homosexuality and being gay was not openly discussed as it is now. If there were any characters on television who were gay, they were usually the "comic relief", that funny effeminate neighbor. There were certainly no serious characters, and depicting a homosexual relationship was unheard of! I remember the HUGE controversy that surrounded Dynasty in 1981 when Steven Carrington was the first gay character on a series drama. I admired my friend's courage, but I didn't speak out.
Why did I tell you that story? I am overwhelmed and deeply touched by the bold and courageous statements being made in the very public forum of Facebook by my young high school friends who are "coming out" as allies in support of equality for ALL! Bravo! It takes courage and conviction to stand up for what you believe in, especially in the face of opposition on this very sensitive issue! For all the reporting of  drug use and violence and bullying in our schools that make me doubt the future of our country, these young men and women make me proud and give me HOPE!

"In time we hate that which we often fear" ~ William Shakespeare

I remember as a child talking in my earliest classes about how boring life would be if we were all the same, that being different is what made the world an interesting place to be. For some reason that always brought an image to mind of this huge cookie cutter that cut as all from the same dough in the exact same shape. I can remember thinking, "How Boring!" I took away from that lesson that it's okay to be different, even preferred. My childhood classes would have taken place in the early 1970's, and at that time, I didn't even know what "being gay" meant except being "happy and gay" I'm not sure all of the people who were teaching me those lessons knew what "being gay" meant. It was certainly never discussed in my household. However, I chose to be involved in the theatre at the age of 10, and many people that I came in contact with were "gay" although I had no concept of that. They didn't hurt me. They didn't corrupt my mind with their "evil" ways. We were just in a show together and talked and laughed and played. Fast forward to my high school days. By this time, I knew what "gay" meant. It still didn't bother me. That was back in 1982. No one was really "out" at that time. I remember one of my dear friends who was a senior decided to be "out" It was a bold and courageous move on his part. I spent a great deal of time worrying about him, not because of what he was, but because of the way others might react. He made it out of high school unscathed, physically at least, but things could have been so much worse. Why? Because, unfortunately, there also exists something called "hate." I remember at the time that he was physically threatened by some players on the football team. They were going to beat him up because he was "different" Wait, what happened to that cookie cutter philosophy? Wasn't it good to be different? Not in those football players minds, but why so much animosity to the point of threatened violence? One word, FEAR! It amazes me that they were afraid of my gentle, sweet friend, but that fear of his difference is what drove their hate of him.
13 years ago on this very day, that same type of fear led two men to brutally torture a 22 year old gay man and leave him to die in the cold and biting wind of a remote area in Laramie, Wyoming. Matthew Shepard suffered a fate that night that I wouldn't wish on a wild animal, let alone a fellow human being. There was no motivation for their actions but hate. They weren't crazy or maniacal. They knew exactly what they were doing, and that, my friends, is the true horror of it all. Why can't we go back to that preschool and early childhood mentality? We can't all be, think, live the same. That makes life boring. Just because someone is different than you doesn't mean there difference will rub off on you. Difference is not a disease, but HATE is. Hate, when nurtured, spreads like wildfire. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for an end to this epidemic! Somebody posted the quote from Eminem on Facebook today in the picture above. It really is that simple.