((Sad to see what all the discrimination does to the people involved...))

From: Morpheus81465 Sent: 2/17/2004 12:23 PM
We live in a society where the people of America are more interested in Janet Jackson's exposed boob than in a $4 Trillion deficit.
We live in a society where we have to stand up and be counted if we ever want our right to love whomever we love.
We live in a society where hiding in back hallways gets us nothing but standing in the forefront stating louly and emphatically that we are here and we should be heard and acknowledged is where we will find equality.
You don't understand how easy it is to be out of the closet? It's not! But it is a hell of a lot more courageous than hiding who you are!
You know your rights? You obviously don't! You don't have any rights! You are keeping htem out while you hide under your rock! Don't worry, the real warriors are here and we will defend your right to Free Speech, Free Expression and we will firght for your right to say "I love you" to the man of your dreams while you cower in your little security blanket and hide in fear that the big bad boogey man is going to beat you up.

I am not old enough to remember Stonewall but I know the stories, those were very brave people.
I don't remember Harvey Milk, but he was a brave man.
I do remember the gay bashings of the '80s and how when we went to the police we wre chastised for being gay. We deserved the beatings.
Matthew Shepherd died because he loved differently than what what the main stream allows.
I remember when HIV and AIDS made their ugly faces known and I remember the fear that surrounded it but we fought to find ways to love one another and we watched good people, real men, warriors DIE.
All of this is so that you can hide in your pathetic little closets and cry that the big, bad, mean world is going to hurt you.

I was 25 when I came out but that was a different time. Back then, we had something to fear.
So you go and cry yourself to sleep while the big dogs come out and play.

As I write this, there is a court in San Francisco trying to determine whether or not to allow the marraige certificates that several gay couples are using to get married should be validated. In NJ, there are several court cases trying to determine whether or not to validate civil union. You want your rights and you want your freedoms but you don't want to fight for them.


You don't understand how people can come out of the closet? Courage! I don't understand how they can hide in fear!


From: GEMINI20043 Sent: 2/18/2004 4:35 AM
YEAH YOU LIVED IN A DIFFERENT TIME. BUT ITS NO DIFFERENT THAN NOW. THINGS
SEEM TO GET WORSE. IM NOT IN THE CLOSET. BUT I DONT THINK THAT PEOPLE WHO
ARE IN THE CLOSET ARE AFRAID OF BEING HURT. THEY ARE AFRAID TO LOSE. LOSE
WHAT? I DONT KNOW. THERE ARE DIFFERENT SITUATIONS. BUT FOR YOU TO SEND THIS
TO ALL THE PEOPLE IN THIS GROUP IS JUST BEING HYPOCRITICAL. YOU ARE
BASICALLY BASHING PEOPLE FOR NOT COMING OUT. SO YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN THE
PEOPLE WHO OPPOSE OUR FEELINGS. YOUR NOT THE BIENG PART OF THE SOLUTION YOUR
PART OF THE PROBLEM. YEAH ITS GREAT THAT YOU ARE FIGHTIN FOR YOUR RIGHTS.
DONT GET MIXED UP ON TRYIN TO GET OTHER HOMOSEXUALS TO FIGHT WHEN THEY DONT
FEEL ITS THEIR TIME YET. SO YEAH JUST BE HAPPY THAT YOUR PART OF A
REVOLUTION THAT IS LONG OVER DO.

-OSCAR

_________________________________________________________________
Stay informed on Election 2004 and the race to Super Tuesday.
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From: Morpheus81465 Sent: 2/18/2004 1:48 PM
I admit that coming out is hard but you have nothing to be afraid of unless you are 16 years old and you are afraid that your parents are going to disown you (and even then there are resources to help) or you are in the military.

If you are in the closet, you are not being counted on the Census.
Chances are, you are fighting on the side of the fundamentalists who would have us all burned at the stake.
Have you ever heard of Rev. John Phelps? He and his family/congregation picketed Matthew Shepherds funeral with signs stating, "God hates fags" and Matthew Shepherd deserves what he got."
He has a right to say these things and do these things, but you can't marry the man of your dreams because you don't have the right.

I said that we are at war and we are. We are at war against bigotry, and hypocracy.

I don't think I am being a hypocrite. I do think I am being a Revolutionary. Yes, the Revolution is long over due but everyone needs to fight or we sink. "United we stand, divided we fall."

Bush has flatly stated that he will sign a law against gay marraige.
How does being in the closet help to stop that law? Being out and being counted means a lot more. We are something that Bush needs more than anything, we are voters.
Think about this, on the 2000 census, how many of us stated that we were homoseuxals?
The estmaited numbers are that less than 1/3 of the nations homosexuals wre counted in the last census report (it was a write in)

We are the only minority that is not represented on the actual census report.

If you think about how we are used by the Governement and the Media to make money or win votes, you would think that we would be treated better by the government and the media.

I did not live in that much of a different time from you, Gemini. I live now. This is all of our time.

I don't believe in the closet. I only see that its purpose is to keep us down.

If you are in college right now, you have a greater responsibility to stand up right now and be counted. You have to be strong for us as we have been in the past for you. To ask for us all to stnad up for your rights and to fight for your freedom while you hide away and wait for the dust to settle shows your cowardice especially in the face of the Quentin Crisps and the Harvey Milk's and the Michelangello Signorelli's and the Matthew Shepherd's and the Paul Ruddick's in this world.
A few years ago, everyone loved Ru Paul. She was entertaining. I say she was a revolutionary. Do you know how many people still ask me if I have seen whatever gay themed main stream comedy is out most recently?
It is my job to educate the masses.
I am an out gay man! I am not here to seduce your husband! I am not here to twist the minds of your children! I am here to educate.
I have spent years using a self deprecating sense of humor to educate Middle America that having homosexuals around them are fun and harmless. I praise Ellen De Generes. She had courage and she paid a hefty price for it. But she is a hero. She is a great woman who lets people laugh at her so she can get her point across.
Tell me, does the closet help you? Does hiding in a protective turtle shell make your life better? Is lying to your friends and family in any way helping to express who you are? Are you being honest with yourself, your friends and your family?
How many people are coming out at 14, 15 and 16 years old now. When I was 16, I COULDN'T come out. it wasn't fear of rejection that kept me closeted, it was fear for my life. That explains why it took me until I was 25. I had a a different kind of thing to fear.
Do you still think I am a hypocrite? I think I am honest!
finally, I am not bashing or flaming anyone for being who they are, I am "bashing" people for trying to be who they are NOT!
Being closeted is the hypocracy.
So what, I am kicking someone in the butt so they come out. I am not outing him to his family. I am telling him to stand up and be a MAN!
Do you want to tell me about fear? Do you think you have the right? Do you honestly think you have the right to call me a hypocrite while you hide away in fear of the big bad world? Please!
What do you have to be afraid of? Gay-bashing? Arrest for being gay? Being fired for being gay? "GRID" (the original name for AIDS, it stood for Gay Related Immunity Disease).
No, don't sit there and tell me that you you can't come out in today's society. You have it easy. The fight has been done for you, you just need to fight for the fine points.
Most states have Anti-Discrimination laws now and we are still working on the ones that don't. Most Anti-Sodomy laws are now stricken but we are still working on the ones that aren't. Many states are passing Domestic Partnership Benefits packages, but we are still working on the ones that aren't.
But yet, you can't come out because...Why, again?