Living Proof

What does Pride Month mean to me? I'm not quite sure. I know that I am incredibly grateful for growing old with my best friend, my partner, my wife, ...my "family unit" -- but I can't say that I'm "prideful." To many of the LGBT qiaxyz community, that's a huge slap in the face. Of course I will always recognize the struggle and the progress of establishing equal rights, but many people of the community still think we live in some third world country. Women's rights activists prance around our country with vagina hats and costumes, protesting the lack of equal rights in America. They feel that they're oppressed and have no rights here in the U.S. The Women's March definitely displayed a lack of respect and dignity to all those who are grateful to be in this country. For all of those who are angry at the U.S. for the lack of rights, please feel free to move to one of these countries: Yemen: According to the 1994 penal code, married ...

Today, I saw a few posts and some live streams of a couple of my friends a little bummed out about today. There are three ways to enjoy love: give love, receive love, BE love. There are a number of ways of just BEING love. For instance, donating to an animal shelter, purchasing items for the person behind you in line at the supermarket, or even spreading some good positive vibes out there in the world. This world has become so angry, full of people with enormous amounts of resentment. To approach them on a bad day would be an explosive catastrophe. It didn't make things better once the election was over. "Love Trumps Hate" doesn't work so well when you're displaying hate yourself. The definition of a "peaceful protest" doesn't include burning up our own flag, carrying protest signs that say "electrocute Pence" or romanticizing about assassinating our President. That's not love. When you preach love, your actions should prove it as...

No one is the same. Not one person can relate 100% to somebody else. It's just a fact. Sometimes, we have to agree to disagree, but in most cases, we see people's egos pummeling through an argument until they have won the final battle. Whose opinion is better? Time after time, I have seen people post up political arguments indicating, "My opinion is right! My opinion is better than yours!" And while their heart is truly for the better, there are instances where fear comes into play. Fear can mean voting for Trump simply because "you" do not like Mexicans or Muslims, without realizing that Trump himself, is not a racist. There is not one thing he has said to be qualified as a "racist." I do feel his extreme vetting is appropriate due to what we have seen with terrorism. The list of countries that have been put on a temporary ban are all the ones that Obama had picked. On top of that, Obama and Clinton were adamant about illegal immigration. List...

In the midst of all this political chaos and divisiveness, I found myself becoming angry. I'm not sure what stirred up my anger, whether it was a contagious wave of political egomania, or if it was an underlining tinge of fear. I do believe whether you are on the right or left of the political arena, fear is the common denominator which ultimately divides us. We don't want our rights taken away. There are different set of rights on each side. From my standpoint, my first love is God, after that, the safety of our country, the 2nd amendment, pro-life, and many other views that lean mostly conservative. But then I have my social values. I'm an advocate for the gay, lesbian and transgender communities. I believe in marriage equality. I also believe in freedom of religion, whereas if a baker doesn't want to participate in my wedding, then I would respect their views and find another baker to help us. I try to understand each side, because even though many Christians bel...

Remember the simpler days spent watching the rain bounce off of your windowpane, hoping the sun would burst through so you could ride your bike down the street and play with your friends? Remember snow days spent sleigh riding with your siblings or friends? You'd come back into the warm house and mom would have hot cocoa waiting for you, which of course, was the best part. I distinctly remember my mom and dad as they would entertain their guests on certain evenings. I would try to listen to what they were saying, but the adult dialogue was too hard for me to understand. It seemed too complicated. And as an adult today, it's still complicated in many other ways. I think to myself, it can be so simple, if we'd let it be. But we don't "let" it. We can't "let" it go. We hold onto our precious values that nobody else seems to care about, trying to ram every bit of it down their throats, yet they still don't hear us, nor want to, simply because...

In the past couple of months, I've witnessed various examples of the consequences of being unexposed to certain lifestyles, whether it be the LGBT community or any type of minority race. What I noticed first is the fear. I'll explain each one shortly. The fear is always about the "unknown" and after that, the fear develops into either a "dislike" to even "hatred" if it's a deep-seated issue brewing. Some people have encountered negative experiences with either gays, lesbians, hispanic and black people. But what they're doing is blaming an entire race or lifestyle on say their one experience with just one PERSON. There are some people who were brought into believing that anyone different from their race or lifestyle is to be seen as either "dangerous" or to be avoided altogether. I grew up in an old fashioned Italian/Catholic household. My parents were born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. My father was like Archie Bunker...

You wouldn't normally think that a Christian conservative's mind would keep stumbling upon the same thought time after time: sex, sex, sex and more sex . I do believe that there are Christians out there that are very concerned about sexual relations (of any kind really), but more so in hopes to keep their own repressions in check. And hoping that I don't sound too redundant and cliche -- why do you think so many priests fail to fall into the "purity" category or perhaps slip into a slimy world of pedophilia? Their prey are usually weak and vulnerable. They need weak individuals to target, otherwise their mission would only be that much harder. I mean -- what adult in their right mind would have an affair with a priest without the notion of going to hell right before leaving his bedroom...or confession booth? Sexual repression for some people can be dangerous because it's like a dam. One simple crack can bust through the vulnerable areas if it's not contr...

Christianity has a variety of followers who seem to go by different doctrines. Each "moral compass" is different for each believer. Some Christians call their faith "truth", while others simply are honest and call it what it is: a belief system that cannot be proven. I guess for me, my faith is my "truth", but it may not be "truth" for somebody else -- and I'm OK with that. Many Christians aren't OK with their truths becoming more of a fairytale belief system to others -- and angered over the fact that their god isn't seen as thee god. It becomes a childish competition of whose god is better. They fight with non-believers, as well as those who are already Christian. One group could ramble off a scripture, while the other group listening will interpret it in a whole other way. Who's right? Who's wrong? An endless battle that will never be proven --ever. If I imagined how Jesus would be today, living in this crazy world f...