Understanding And Loving Each Other And Ourselves

      My previous blog about Gay marriage and gay rights drew a lot of Facebook flack from gay people and their friends.  Many of these people are no longer my Facebook friends – several of them because they unfriended me, and one that I unfriended and blocked because he just wanted to be angry and insulting.  

  I would like to thank the friend who posted a very tender, uplifting note on the subject of understanding. I won’t mention any names because I don’t want that person to incur the anger and hatred that has turned on me for having the audacity to express my conservative opinions.

  Sexual orientation is part of who we all are. But things like that should not limit the way we think about each other or ourselves.

   That’s part of the point I was trying to make when I wrote that no amount of legislation could make us all the same.

    When I think of my many gay friends, I think about what sweet, kind, talented, imaginative people they are. 

   I enjoy watching them as they sing, dance and move across theatre stages with grace and style.  I have spent many wonderful hours sharing things like theater and music with them.

   I think about the teachers among them and their devotion to guiding and helping students. 

    I think about the cleverness and beauty that comes through in the creativity of those who are writers, musicians and artists. 

     I admire the skill, knowledge and dedication that gay people bring to their various professions.

   It makes me happy to see the love they have for their families, their pets, their homes, their gardens and each other.

   I smile to myself when I think about what funny, fun-loving people some of them are.  

    I am certain that gay marriage will be legalized – whether or not people like me agree. 

   If the upcoming Supreme Court decision does not authorize it, then it will come about via some kind of legislation that states like Ohio will eventually have to pass. 

    It will not make everything all better.

    It won’t make everybody happy. 

    Things like love, happiness, understanding, acceptance, dignity, respect and confidence cannot be legislated. 

   I hope that clergy and religious leaders will be aware of that and try to provide counsel and support to help folks come to terms with any anger or discomfort as churches help gay people celebrate their unions.

    I continue to hope and pray that my gay friends – indeed all my family and friends-- might find joy, peace and harmony within themselves. I really do care about you all and wish you well, despite our different ideas and opinions.

  I say that in sincerity and out of my belief in a higher power that loves and sustains us all in this wonderful, diverse universe.