“Dear God…I kissed a girl”

Religious leaders say that people who are gay and lesbian are sinning and that one’s sexual orientation is something that can be changed. He says that he believes these things because that is what the Bible says about the subject.

The Bible has tens of thousands of verses in it, and it is all too easy to find one or two verses to support a viewpoint that is nevertheless wrong.

We should challenge them to take another look at the way the Bible is used against people who are gay. There are countless ministers and other religious leaders who do not believe that the Bible should be abused to condemn people who are gay or lesbian. They believe that only through accepting, welcoming and affirming gays and lesbians do they express the full love of God.

People are not gay or lesbian because of bad character or low morals. None of us just woke up one morning and said to ourselves…”Gee, I’m bored so just for shits and giggles I think I will be GAY now”  It is something that is decided for you, and it is decided for you long before you even KNOW what sexuality even is…it is GENETIC and that is the bottom line.

Heterosexuals are not that way because they have better morals than gay people. In fact, one of the most profound moral choices that confronts people who are gay or lesbian is whether to be honest or to lie. People who are openly gay have simply chosen to be honest with themselves and other’s around them.

No human being chooses their sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is something that is decided for you, for reasons of which we are not yet fully aware. In fact, many gay and lesbian young people never even knew that such a thing as gay persons even existed before they realized that new fact about themselves.

If you are heterosexual, just ask yourself this one question, “How and when did I choose to be heterosexual”? The fact is that you did not choose which gender to be attracted to. No one does.

Love and commitment makes a family. Anyone who has ever read the Bible knows that it has one main message; “Love your neighbor as yourself” and “Love the Lord God with all your heart, mind and soul”.

Falwell, for example, says that he is on the side of truth, however, if the reverend were to open his heart towards people who are gay or lesbian, he would discover that scripture has been abused to support an anti-gay agenda which subtracts from the loving message of the gospel.

Sure, we can be tempted to say “what’s the big deal, it’s just his opinion”. But it is a big deal. As you read this, multiple thousands of gay men and lesbian women are living lives that are made more difficult because Falwell still preaches that being gay or lesbian is a sin that can be changed.

It’s okay for these “popular” ministers to ride on the coat-tails of the elderly and the poor and live in their multi-million dollar mansions with the Olympic sized pools and the heated dog houses financed by their devoted followers to lie and steal and have illicit secret affairs with men on the side and then when caught easily produce the “cow tears” and ask for forgiveness.

Last year on the way to Cleveland Pride I decided to take Susan Westenhoffer’s advice and call the toll free number to the “700 Club”. When I got a representative of “Mr Robertson” I asked her if she could please say a prayer for me, after she agreed I asked her to please pray so that it wouldn’t rain on Gay Pride…she refused.  Repeatedly she refused telling me that homosexuality was an abomination of GOD…believe that?  So I kept calling her because every time someone calls that toll free number it costs the good ole boy Pat money…maybe you should all try it…1-800-700-CLUB.

For some unknown reason a miniscule portion of our society seems to think that gays and lesbians live a wild sexual perverted life…”I WISH”.  Our lives are no different than a typical heterosexual individual.  We work, we have dinner, we have arguments about money or pain in the ass ex’s who do not have the moral consideration to let go and move on, we raise children, let the dog out and go to bed only to wake up and start the same process over again.

Just in the last ten years we as gay men and women have made tremendous progress as far as acceptance, and in the next ten it will be even easier…that is as long as we ALL stand our ground and not let these idiotic finger pointing homophobic asshole’s who have nothing better to do than to run their mouths about people they deem “less than perfect” manipulate us because when you point your finger at someone there is always three fingers pointing back at you.

I hope you all have a wonderfully prosperous week!

~Cee~
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Sticks & Stones

Last night as my co worker and I were preparing to lock up the store our next to the last customer was a regular who purchased his items like he does everyday then proceeds to chit chat with Shannan and I for a few minutes.

He began to tell us about how upset he was regarding this new “Hate Crime Bill” that he didn’t want to pass because he felt that it was going to take away his First Amendment right to FREE speech.

He goes on to say that if this “THING” passes you won’t be able to make fun of GAY people anymore.  Here I am dumbfounded for one that this is even coming out of his mouth because I had always thought he was a great guy, very sweet, intelligent, sociable.

So Shannan and I stand there listening and not adding much because our jaws were basically on the floor and non-operable. She is a beautiful young lady who reminds me of “Barbie” and who also happens to be married to an African American man and has children with him, so she herself has experienced prejudice and hate from people and she understands the plight of Gay’s and what they have gone through and how far we have come and how far we have yet to go.

And then there is me, an OPENELY gay woman and all that I can think about at that moment  is “How can he NOT know I am gay?” I mean, anyone who knows me would describe me as the poster child for Lesbians.

Let me tell you a little about this “Bill” and why it is so important that it passes.

Openly gay Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts presided over the chamber, the House of Representatives passed a measure to add Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans gender people to the federal hate crime law.The bill includes crimes committed because of the victim’s disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. It makes these offenses eligible for the same federal response and added penalties as those in the existing 1969 law, which includes race, religion, color and national origin.

FBI statistics show that one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation, either real or perceived.

The Senate will consider an identical bill later this year that is named after Matthew Shepard, the Gay Wyoming student beaten and left to die in 1998. The two bills are the top legislative priority of the Human Rights Campaign.

Versions of the bill have been in Congress since 1996, when the Justice Department first proposed it in the Senate. Its first sponsors were Democrat Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Republican Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas. Until this vote, it had never passed either chamber.

“This is a historic day that moves ALL Americans closer to safety from the scourge of hate violence,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Today, legislators sided with the 73 percent of the American people who support the expansion of hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.”

However, a wrench was thrown into the celebration when the White House immediately announced that President Bush would veto it, although it has the support of law enforcement professionals.

Now, lets all think about this for a moment, we have a president who has the worst approval rating in history and who’s vice president has an openly Gay daughter with partner and they have had and are raising a child together. What are the benefits for Bush if he veto’s this much needed bill? Why is he so against it?  Law Enforcement totally supports it’s passing. A White House spokesperson cited “concern” with these things, without further elaboration, as the reason for the imminent veto. Ever wonder what Cheney’s opinion is on all of this?

CONCERN? What concerns?  Shouldn’t the White House be protecting our rights also?  I mean, we pay taxes, and they all happily accept our votes when they are running for political offices do they not?

The White House says there is no need for the expanded bill because state and local laws already cover the crimes it addresses, and there is no need for federal enforcement. The last hate crime bill basically covers discrimination against minorities which leaves the door wide open for businesses to discriminate against Gays, Lesbians and Trans Gendered people in their hiring practices.

There isn’t any law preventing some maniac homophobic from beating you up or killing you or calling you a vulgar name as you pass them on the street. There isn’t any law which supports your right to adopt a child if you are in a same sex relationship and I could go on and on because as it stands we have little or no rights nor do we have the “Protection” that has been afforded to every other American…are you starting to feel like “Rosa Parks?” I am.

Bush needs to get his priorities “Straight”, he needs to get our troops out of that God Forsaken war. That country has been fighting amongst themselves since before the days of Christ and they always will be.

This isn’t about “Protecting” the United States from the “Overseas Heathens” this is about feeding his own ego. It is about OUR brothers and sisters who are needlessly giving their lives because he is trying to undo the damage he has caused OUR country since he has been in office.

This country belongs to ALL of us…not just the Hetrosexuals.

I hope you all have a wonderfully prosperous week!

~Cee~

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Bi-Sexuality

I can think of at least 15 people off the top of my head that I know directly who are bisexual. Is it just me or are more people playing both sides of the fence?

 Now, me, I am as GAY as they come. I can look at a man and find him to be attractive BUT that does not mean I am attracted to him- far from it.  It just doesn’t appeal to me. And I’m sure that if I was a man, I don’t think other women would appeal to me all that much, either. I guess I’m just not wired for it or something.

Now nine years ago when I first contemplated coming out I thought maybe it would be easier for me and my family as well as friends if I tried the “Bi” thing, well suffice to say that the first time I slept with a woman you could have peeled me off of the ceiling so deep down in that place where I held all of my “shit” I knew without a doubt I was GAY and not Bi-Sexual because I did try being with a man again after that and physically became ill and have never slept with another man since.

To be perfectly honest with you, I have never understood Bi-Sexuality. Is it that people have been so hurt by the opposite sex that they think they’ll have better luck with their own? Is it a sense of comfort in familiar territory? Or is it simply that people are so hungry for affection that they’ll get it wherever and from whomever they can?

Have our parents damaged us in some way?  Has society? I don’t know that bisexuality is damaging per-say, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. Perhaps its some sort of Sexual Revolution backlash that was never expected… or, maybe it was expected and nurtured?

Coming from the lesbian perspective, I can definitely see why women would consider other women to be sexually attractive because, let’s face it, women are wonderfully curvy, passionate, nurturing, sexy, soft… and the list goes on. But what is it about men and women finding other men and women to be equally enticing?

Men are fairly angular, hairy, doltish and rather unappealing on a strictly personal geometric level. There are some good-looking men out there, I suppose, or the human race would have died out long ago, but what is it that men see in their “brothers” that some women don’t? Is it latent homosexual desire? Curiosity? Rebellion? Counter-culture-ism? Fear of commitment?

Again, this being only my personal opinion, I have never “messed around” if you will, with any bi-sexual women. And a lot of my lesbian friends are the same way.  I have always been concerned with the fact that more often than not STD’s are transferred  during male to female sexual escapades than with female to female, and mainly because safe sex is not practiced, and the other issue I have is the little voice in my head that tells me that if I am having sex with a bi-sexual female I am in a sense having sex with their prior male partner and that isn’t okay with me.

Since when is the opposite sex not appealing to someone (of either gender)? Does a past negative experience have something to do with it? Is it different for every person?

I don’t know and I can’t even begin to answer it.  Maybe we will never know but I would love some feedback from any bi-sexual’s out there. Write to me, share your story with me or rip me a “new one”. I can take it…*GRIN*

I hope you all have a wonderfully prosperous week!

~Cee~