"I pictured living in a shadowy underworld." That is exactly how I felt, scared to death,but even younger than Sinai. He is amazingly strong and beautiful. I am so proud of this new generation of gay kids.
When I was in high school, there were no such things as Gay-Straight Alliance clubs.
I didn't know of anyone that actually "came out", although there were several people who, I'm sure, fell under "suspicion" and later revealed their sexuality. One such person was a good friend of mine. I met him in kindergarten and went all through school with him. We were in the same ward and the same neighborhood. I even took him to a girls' choice dance. He was fun and kind and so easy to talk to. He went through hell coming to terms with his orientation. Once he did, however, I never saw him so happy and so healthy. I'm just so glad he is at peace with himself. He's a therapist, and has helped many souls like himself come to terms with their homosexuality. I couldn't think higher of him.
I just found out that another close friend is bisexual. She went on a mission in the mid-'80's and ended up having a nervous breakdown. She tried to force herself into a mold that didn't suit her, apart from her sexuality. Her father put her in a private hospital back in Baltimore. She was there for over a year, and has lived in Maryland ever since.
I had lost touch with her and only caught up with her recently when her parents died in the last few years, and she came back for their funerals. She introduced me to her partner, a woman she'd been in a relationship with for 10 years. She had some big crushes on guys as a young girl, but had many frustrations with men. Her world really took a 360 turn back in the '80's and I know she was close to suicide many,many times. I didn't know about her domestic situation and was very surprised, but, again, she's so happy and at peace. I love her dearly, and I'm just glad she feels loved and secure.
Knowing these good friends, and many other acquaintances has been a great blessing in my life, and has taught me so much about how to love and accept people as they are. It still isn't easy to feel unconditional love to the level I'd like, but I will say, those who seek to persecute GLBT's in the name of "the Lord" are pathetically clueless about what should be the central tenents of their respective Xtian denominations.
Somehow, "Judge not" and "Love one another" escapes so many people who consider themselves good Christians.
The gay youth of today are amazing. They are expecting and demanding so much more than activists of my generation could ever have hoped for. What Cyrus is doing at his age is so out of the realm of my experience at that age it sometimes frightens me. I get frightened that he is pushing to hard, asking too much too soon. It was to hard, too soon and to much for my generation to ask and I am still sometimes hobbled by those old taboos and fears. Seeing Cyrus and others like him push well past the taboos of my youth makes me proud, but it also helps me get past those taboos for myself.
I would like to thank Cyrus for making the world a better place than for me, a better place than us old fart activists could have done without their perspective, courage and efforts.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2011 01:21AM by MJ.