Well not in the exact definition of the term, but in a way that requires everyone to deal with the rejection and sadness and depression, but eventual self-acceptance, which i believe now allows us to accept others and be more open-minded when after experiencing the trials first-hand. I was homophobic for a few years probably the outcome of having a generally homophobic family. I really did not like gay people in anyway. Apparently i was too masculine to be gay, i didn't have a lisp, i played sports, dolls never entered the domain of my room. I was exactly like everyone else, except i was gay. The thought of it was unbearable when first coming to terms with this, there were 3 years of pain, depression, and self-loathing. But through all that time my only outlet was to research, learn more about the life that i did not want to have. The likenesses and struggles of so many of the others told me I'm not the only one, and they all helped me to accept myself and be happy with myself. And to accept any others as well, I've never been a happier kinder person than i am to myself and others. The journey and the struggles i had to deal with created in me a better person, with n o modesty i do believe we need everyone to be like that. I've even pushed my own homosexuality so far out of mind that it no longer even becomes a part of my normal days, it's just a part of me. I'm just like everyone else in every way but one . (My parents especially need this eye-opener so they can quit their hate forced upon me and many others)
I really appreciate the overall message of this post, especially how if people examine their own trials and tribulations really well, they can learn to accept others' differences. But when you say "I was exactly like everyone else, except I was gay," I see a dichotomous message. Doesn't "everyone else" have their own little idiosyncracies that make them seem isolated and different? By the values of different experiences, there is no homogenous entity known as "normal society". Normal is the accumulation of power by one specific group of characteristics in people that then try to reinforce their own lives as pre-eminent and most important to everyone elses'...ie...discrimation tactics. Although a homogenous gay community can seem very real and powerful, I would prefer to take advantages of multiple definitions that go beyond boundaries or limits. This is how straight men can sleep with other men and still maintain normal lives. Unfortunately, we only hear about difficult stories in the worst possible, and mostly monothematic, ways.
Rejection, sadness, and depression.......I've dealt with all these things. Maybe that is why I have such compassion and empathy for GLBT people.
That's very true, especially the first paragraph. Once we deal with these things, it makes us a bteer person. Like the existential fall that must come before the growth of wings.
Yeah very, very true. We don't know who we are until we are put in a great confrontation. We can THINK we know who we are, but until we have that confrontation, we can think we're better than the rest and able to cheat the natural consequences. So being gay really made a great difference to my personality (not in the 'gay' way, but as in it made me reflect on a lot of things as a whole). So yep, agreed.
