I TAKE NO PRIDE IN THE THINGS THAT DIVIDE ME, I SEEK COMFORT IN THE THINGS THAT DEFINE ME

I can't remember where I found this article, but I thought I'd share it nonetheless. Read it, take it in and share your thoughts.

Humans are multifaceted
beings. Each of us is probably able to subscribe to some minority, and some
majority. There is probably something about each of us that can fit into the
big box and fit into the small box. We have the option of defining ourselves as
we choose.

I view homosexuality as a
variation of human existence but never a deviation. I am cut out from the same
cloth as every single human being that ever was, is, and will be. Like
snowflakes no two cloths will ever be the same.

Flags initially define us but
they also divide us. Flags that symbolize a rich history can also represent a
bleak present. Flags can be a source of strength for one person and an easily
marketed identity to another. But who are we without all the variances that
divide us? At the core of our beings what is left of us once we subtract all
the man-made symbols, labels, and definitions that we’ve attach to ourselves?
Every human being is a unique individual composed by the sum of their parts. In
society we divide ourselves by the sum of these parts.

The homosexual aspect of my
being casts me into a minority. I’ve struggled for a long time to find my place
within this minority. To reject the rainbow flag and all its modern
connotations seems to be the ultimate taboo. To rebel against ones own “minority” is considered near blasphemy.

But there are so many things
that anger and sadden me about current gay culture. Isn’t the ultimate goal to evolve into well-adjusted healthy happy
human beings? Are we even striving to be happy and well-adjusted?

Thanks to those who have
fought in the past for our current freedoms. But at what point to we become imprisoned by this freedom? Today we
have people fighting for our freedom in the law books but what about liberation from our own internal oppressors? The little voice inside of us that tell us
we are inferior? Without a sane voice to lead us through the darkness how many get sucked into the emptiness and
vice? There is far too much emphasis on humanity’s differences and very
little focus on how much we are all the same. I’ll be damned if I’ll feel
inferior…or superior.

We must take accountability
for our actions. As the LGBT Revolution evolves perhaps it is time to retool
the slogans and the viewpoints. I find it impossible to take pride in being gay
because it is not something that I worked for. It just is. I just am. So what is the the next step after pride?
Being secure in our existences. I can stand behind any movement that celebrates
diversity but find it strange after we’ve come this far to boast about it.
Instead of gay pride how about “Diversity Recognition” or even “LGBT
Recognition”?