Day 272 Question 272:

What is one issue that you feel VERY passionate about?

This should come as no surprise but I love the gays.  It may sound ridiculous but every gay person I meet in life I want to befriend.  I have always believed that people are born gay.  Not one ounce of me believes that a person would choose to be gay….at least not in this ugly, angry world.  So much research has been done that has shown that the brain patterns of heterosexuals vs. homosexuals is different.  For me this is a selling point.  A part of me even believes that this differing brain makeup has made majority of the gay population much nicer and way more fun than the heterosexual population (I say this based on the amazing gay friends that I have had throughout my life).  I am speaking with ease right now though with a humorous tone in my words but in all seriousness, the topic of homosexuality is one that I am always feeling so passionate about.  I have been asked at different times if I am a lesbian simply because I am always talking about and fighting for gay rights.  No, I am not a lesbian.  I just find it very unfair that a group of individuals can be treated with less respect than others simply because of who they decide to lay down with at night.  No, I do not look at in the same respect as slavery.  Homosexuals are not being made servants and forced to do hard manual labor for little or no pay.  Many however are subjects to hate crimes and that is absolutely disgusting in my eyes.

This post is not meant to go in the direction of ugly and to point out all of the horrid things that have been done to people in this population.  I do get angry at people I find to be ignorant but I am not looking to argue.  This post is actually to celebrate the coming together of people for a cause….people coming together to unite all people regardless of race, creed, gender or sexual orientation.  I had to post the video below because it touched my heart so deeply.  Here is a father that is giving his daughter away and handing her over to another woman to be her wife.  I do understand the apprehension.  We have lived in a society that for so long only recognized marriage being between a man and a woman.  What touched my heart in this video was the fact that this father stopped seeing gender and the only thing that was important was his daughter’s happiness.  I wish more people could see in that way.  Happiness should always be the goal day in and day out and not just for ourselves but also for those around us.  There is nothing more enlightening and more beautiful than to be able to experience someone else’s happiness…to have the opportunity to feel their elation and joy.  We are not meant to understand everyone else or understand their choices but we should strive to accept them and hope that they are experiencing the most happiness they possibly can.  People may not believe it when I say it but I even hope for great happiness for people that have parted from my life (whether they be enemies or old friends that drifted).  I may not understand their choices and I may choose not to include them in my life but that does not mean that I would ever want bad things to happen to them.  I believe if more people could find their happiness we would see a much more peaceful world….but that is once again me being a dreamer.

I believe that human life and love are the most important things in this life…they are two things to never be taken for granted.  I do not find it fair to dismiss people’s love simply based on their preference of who they choose to be in a relationship with.  This life is chaotic and confusing for pretty much everyone whether they admit that or not.  I cannot even imagine what it would be like to come out of the closet and to struggle with your sexual identity…especially in such a critical society.  Every person that walks this earth has their own story and I have to remind myself of that all of the time.  It is easy to judge and to assume and to never change our views (I can be stubborn too) but no matter what…it is simply….we are all human beings deserving of love and all of the same opportunities.  If there is a God I truly believe that is what he wants us to ALL to learn in this life.

I had to watch the video again and all I keep thinking about is my dad.  I love my dad with every part of my being.  A life without him is unimaginable.  I know he loves me but sometimes I wonder if he is proud of me.  I wonder if he sometimes wishes I was different.  I wonder if he would be able to let his “beliefs” go if I were to want to marry a woman….and truly accept it because my happiness is what is most important.  I understand the struggle of being different and feeling unaccepted.  I am like no one else in my family and even though I know there is love there…there is always a wonder of whether or not I am truly accepted.  It can hurt so badly to feel different unaccepted, so when my aunt and cousins told my mom I was weird and spoke of me in a negative way, I felt broken and I had to dismiss those people from my life.  I don’t hold onto the judgments of others and allow them to control me but I am sensitive and  I believe that I steer so much in the direction of equal rights for homosexuals  because of knowing what it feels like to be the outcast and feeling like you are not good enough….and having to hide who you truly are because everyone is waving their finger at you.