To Be…or Not to Be? That is the Question…

I have to say that I’m disappointed in the decision by the California Legislature not to pass Proposition 8. I don’t think that the government should have a say so in who should be together. The LBGT community participates in the very being of having to be an American; by that I mean voting, paying taxes, etc., so why can’t they be with who they want to be with? It bugs me that sometimes our country can be so focused on minute things when we could be focused on that needs our total focus (unemployment…soldiers in Iraq, the economy – hello?).

When I was in high school, I had some teammates that I played sports with that have later on came out of the closet, and it didn’t make me feel different in any way towards them at all. In my opinion...there are two types of people in this world. You are either cool people or you're not cool people. That's it. If you're sometimey, then you're not cool. It's as simple as that. My mind traveled back down memory lane and I recalled some incidents (that I’ve seen & read about) that have cemented my belief that being anything other than heterosexual one of the most stressful things to be in America besides being the President (not equating the two...just making a comparison about how stressed one can be in those situations). When I first started playing sports, my father (and his side of the family) was excited…his daughter was following in a long family tradition of being an athlete. On the other hand, my mom’s family wasn’t having it. I can vividly recall an aunt admonishing me about being a lesbian…just because I dribbled a basketball. I mean, for real…why not ask me first before you make an assumption, huh? That stressed ME out at an early age, and I’m heterosexual, so I can only imagine how it could bother & stress the hell out of someone from the LBGT community.

I watched a TV show where there was a debate among some members of the lesbian/gay community – the issue being: is being gay something that you’re born with, or is it something that you choose to be? I applied it to my thinking: I didn’t choose to be heterosexual; it’s just something that was instinctive to me. But I also believe that there are some people out there that choose to be heterosexual and I think it’s the same for homosexuals as well.

I have a cousin; he’s one of the sweetest kids & he’s about 9 years old. He has what some people would consider feminine tendencies, and he talks with a feminine-like voice. When he plays video games, he plays with the female characters, when he watches cartoons, he watches things like the Powerpuff Girls instead of G.I. Joe (I know I’m dating myself here…LOL), and he loves to dance and sing; he really doesn’t care for sports or any “BOY” stuff. When he grows up, he wants to be a chef (and he’s a great cook). I don’t think he has a clue about what being gay means, but some of our family members think that he’s going to be gay when he grows up because of these characteristics, and they are beginning to treat him awkwardly because of it. It pisses me off that they do this to him. If he is exposed to this; and he does become gay, isn’t that conditioning him to be that way? Isn’t that making him gay without his consent? I guess my point here is that it should be up to that person. Whether being homosexual from birth or whether they choose to be that way…it’s up to them. That’s supposed to be the beauty of living in this country…freedom to choose without being judged for living YOUR life. Tell me what you think! I welcome all opinions, thoughts, beliefs, etc., as long as they aren’t disrespectful…