I Am

[filkertom]

From dandelion_diva, kshandra, leianora, and ataniell93, and I bet/hope many others:

I am...

I am the guy who came out to the entire school in his senior speech and got a standing ovation for his courage.

I am the girl who kisses her girlfriend on the sidewalk and laughs at those who glare.

We are the couple who planned and studied and got a damn good lawyer and BEAT the state that wanted to take our child away.

We are the ones who took martial arts classes and carry pepper spray and are just too dangerous to gay bash.

I am the transgender person who uses the bathroom that suits me, and demands that any complaining staff explain their complaint to my face in front of the entire restaurant--and shares with my other trans friends which restaurants don't raise a stink.

I am the mother who told her lesbian daughter to invite her girlfriend over for dinner.

I am the father who punished his son for calling you a fag.

I am the preacher who told my congregation that love, not hate, is the definition of a true follower of God.

I am the girl who did not learn the meaning of "homosexual" until high school but never thought to question why two men might be kissing.

I am the woman who argues (quite loudly and vehemently) with the bigots who insist that you do not have the right to marry or raise children.

We are the high school class who agrees, unanimously, along with our teacher, that love should be all that matters.

If you agree, repost this. Do it. You don't have to be afraid. You can handle it. You're stronger than you think.

I am making a difference. Hate will not win.

Comments

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Thank you, add me to the list, am copying in my lj as well.
This is wonderful!

[archanglrobriel.livejournal.com]

And thank you for that. It's good to see this. In fact, it's made my morning much, much brighter.

[miscassandra.livejournal.com]

That's MARvelous! Thanks! From me, My friends, their friends, etc.

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

*snags for LJ*

[ixias.livejournal.com]

Copied to my favorite site.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'm looking forward to the day that a lad comes out in his senior speech....

And no one really cares.

This post.

[sifractusfortis.livejournal.com]

On my LJ as well. And I, too, am looking forward to the day when it just doesn't freakin' matter.

I consider myself a happy heteroflexible, but one of my proudest moments is when a group of gay men at the Mankind Project Rainbow Warrior Gathering accused me of being a gay man in denial.

[janeg.livejournal.com]

Great list! I have just posted it on a discussion forum where I expect it will be liked by many, and will disturb a few who need to be disturbed.

[isolde-deely.livejournal.com]

I saw a variation of this list recently. Bravo!

Re: This post.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Isn't that kind of jerkish?

I mean, if it's wrong for a heterosexual to claim that a homosexual is the way they are due to concious choice, and could just as easily be hetero themselves, how is it any less wrong if the role are reversed?

Re: This post.

[capplor.livejournal.com]

"how is it any less wrong if the role are reversed"

Because it is a near-universal truth that the very highest compliment ever paid is, "You are like me". It may not be true, and it may not be what you want (and there is a thing called self-hatred) but still many of the highest complements intended boil down to those four words.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

This gay man thanks you for this post, and swipes it for his LJ. I feel a little weird getting this from you instead of from ataniell93, who used to be my wife until I finally admitted I wanted a husband, too. :)

Re: This post.

[sifractusfortis.livejournal.com]

Because it was meant in a loving, friendly way, and because it meant that as a straight man I was welcome enough in a community that had reason to fear me -- not as me but as a symbol -- that those jokes could be made.

Re: This post.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see. One of those instances where it wasn't so much the words as the intent behind them.

I'm cool with that.

[james-rayner.livejournal.com]

I've sent this to everyone on my AIM and on a number of Message Boards I go to.

Because we can turn the tide.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Why? That's how the friends list shakes out. Which is possibly the most misinterpretable thing I'll post all week.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

Okay, I like getting it from you instead of from her, then.

Whoa, that's even more misinterpretable. :)