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 ...

Before I start my letter to Kathryn, let me just say that it's very disappointing to see so many people still committing hate crimes. It's truly terrifying, because I look at these folks who allegedly had beaten up two gay men while walking down the street and they look like people I would hang out with -- they looked normal, well dressed and friendly. Was it because they were in that wolf pack mentality? When large groups are together, if one lashes out, usually the others follow. I guess humans do it too. I wonder if the situation was a bit different, say two women holding hands walking down the street -- would they have attacked them too? Gay is gay, right? But in my opinion and experience on being a lesbian myself, I find that gay men and transgender people get the worst responses from the general public -- or should I say, the ignorant public -- the hateful public. And not to say that lesbians don't get their share of idiots crossing their paths, but there is a sl...

In a recent conversation I had, the person looked at me in amazement and said, "Wow, it must be so cool to live with another woman!" Although it wasn't an insult, I sort of felt the need to poke her ribs a little. I asked her why she felt that way since I view it as any other marriage. She said, "It's great, because it's like having your best friend be your spouse." "But isn't that what marriage is supposed to be?" "I mean, it must be really cool to share everything with your wife." "But isn't that what marriage is supposed to be? "You know what I mean, girls communicate more and do things together more." If you're straight and reading this and thinking, "Yeah, she's right," I have to beg you to reevaluate your own marriage. Marriage is supposed to be two people, two best friends, two lovers, two people who are able to communicate with one another and share everything together and ple...

It should be okay, I mean -- why wouldn't it be? Nobody cares if you're gay, straight, transexual or bisexual, right? It's strange to have this preconception that most of the world is accepting, until a celebrity outs their true opinion over their distaste in the homosexual lifestyle. That's when you see the world coming out with their own opinions and religious beliefs, condemning the LGBT people to hell. This is exactly why I'm not a "show & tell" type of person. I'm not in the closet, but if you ask if I'm married, I will say "yes" --- and that's it. I don't know your beliefs or opinions on whether or not you think being gay is a sin or it's just "gross" or whatever you may think. And why should anyone care what anyone thinks? For me, it's about safety. Safety from a possible hate crime, safety from maybe some perverted idiot or safety from just people who'll attack me with mere words and of ...

Each time Madelene and I stop off at a diner, we sit at the counter. Even at a restaurant, we eat at the bar. At the table, it's like your begging to be served, waiting and waiting and waiting. If you're the type to drink your fine wine with a crazy straw, then the bar and counter may just be your cup of tea. Quicker service. I found myself with an hour to kill in between appointments yesterday afternoon. I was hungry, I was tired and needed coffee desperately. I walked into the nearest diner by myself, and sat in between two old men wearing similar flannel shirts and baseball caps (with some sort of company logo on it). I grabbed a stool and put my keys and phone down. The waitress quickly noticed me and said, "Do you need to checkout, hun?" I was a little confused. "I didn't even order yet." Her cheeks turned bright red and she let's out an, "Ohhhh, you're ordering food to go?" As I sat down in my seat, I said, "No, to stay p...

Last night, I went into the kitchen and made myself a drink while waiting for my wife to come home. I started to prepare dinner for her since it was her late night to work. I made sure her chicken was cooked to perfection, and that she had a nice cocktail waiting once she walked in the door so she could relax and put her feet up. We sat, talked for a while and discussed our excitement for our vacation this upcoming June. We've been through a rough couple of years, having my Dad pass on from his long struggle with cancer. Dad loved her. One evening, Mom had called us in the middle of the night crying that Dad had taken a bad fall on the living room floor while grabbing an orange from the kitchen. He couldn't get up. We rushed down to try and help, but he was in such pain that I didn't want to break anything. Last time, he broke a rib from us trying to lift him back up. This time, his hip was broken. Once back up on the bed, he said, "Can you get me that orange?" ...

Many people think progress was made. Many people haven't heard the slew of comments and derogatory statements made toward the LGBT community for their request for equal rights. I have sought through threads on Facebook, debates on Twitter and even sadly, some very well known people who seem to be in line with siding with those who do not agree with the homosexual lifestyle. One republican named, Dave Agema. He listed some "statistics" about homosexuality. Some of it reads, "Part of the homosexual agenda is to turn people from Christianity: The teaching that only male-female sexual activity within the bounds and constraints of marriage is the only acceptable form should be reason enough for any homosexual to denounce the Christian religion." Well, I'm Christian and never tried to turn anyone away from their religion just because I wanted the same rights with my wife. I'm not sure where he gets his statistics. Another statement reads, "Homosexuals l...

Slavery was okay in the Bible, ma'am. 50 years ago it was illegal for you to get married,  ma'am. It's kind of interesting what's been happening lately since social media has been exploding with the messages of those who are for and against marriage equality. Now I'm seeing the religious antigay people coming out of the woodwork spreading all of their cherry picked scriptures from the Bible to tear down those who want equality. If you've been reading me for some time now, you know where I'm heading with this one. I'll try to put a twist to it for you so you don't feel like you're reading the same thing again and again. But today, it's important I put this message out there. So bear with me, loyal readers. For new readers, especially the antigay religious folk -- I challenge you to answer a few questions. Do you include salt, in offering to your God? If not, you're sinning. Do you eat fat in your diets? If so, that's supposed to...

So your religion says that "gay marriage" will ruin the sanctity of marriage. Your religion says that two men together or two women together is an abomination to God. Your religion tells you a whole lot of things. Your religion also tells you to steer clear from shellfish. Your religion tells you that you shouldn't shave your beard. Your religion forbids you to have tattoos. Your religion tells you that premarital sex is a sin and yet you don't follow your religion's rules, but you're okay with judging other people's lives, and you're also okay with ruining other people's lives by instilling your religion and 'thought to be' morals upon other people's relationships. You want to stop gays and lesbians from marrying, while the sanctity of marriage has already been ruined by many straight people, including celebrities and those who take marriage for granted. You seem to be okay with the fact that so many people get a divorce over the sl...

For a few years, I've followed this person who goes by " Dartell " on Twitter and had some interesting conversations with her. She had insight, seemed intelligent and was very friendly. She's a black woman in her early 30's I'm guessing with extensive political views. But lately, her political views have taken a turn into the dark side. At first, I thought she was just retweeting a few borderline racist posts. Ok, she hates Obama - which is fine, but accusing him of being Muslim and sending billions of dollars to terrorists seems a bit much. She is highly against Islam. In one post, she added a photo of a man holding a knife to his neck and states, "Muslim threatens to slice his neck. Hell WTH is he waiting for...ISLAM IS A CULT. )0v0(." Another tweet includes this: "Islam's War on Women. Egyptian Islamist Imam Says Tahrir Female Protesters are “Crusaders” Who 'Want to be Raped'." Other tweets involve incidents that include Is...