Come Out, Come Out...

With National Coming Out Day having come and gone (11 October), it makes me think... I was never really in the closet. Even though that caused me a lot of problems during my teen-age years, I am glad I was never in the closet. I was out, in the 1980's, when it wasn't cool for a teen-ager to be out. I was treated like crap by my peers. I had very few friends. Issues with depression did not help matters for me. I attempted suicide at age 16. I didn't see any way out. I took sleeping pills, and as soon as I did, I got scared and got help. The emergency room was not pleasant, and I hated the two weeks I spent in a psyche ward. Thankfully the shrink who was treating me is a decent person - he realized that my parents couldn't afford to pay the hospital bills and he got me out. I went to treatment under him, but we never really synched right. He sent me to a psychologist who was working in his office, and I've been seeing her ever since. I still see her today, since I deal with depression without the use of anti-depressants.

I admit, I'm not a fan of gay society at large. It's like being in high school. If you aren't in the right clique, you are treated like you don't matter. I've never been "good enough" for my gay peers, in general. There are individuals who accept me as I am, and we get on just fine.

Here's the thing. We're all individuals. Just accept people as they are. You can learn a lot from people who are different from you. I appreciate all my friends from the ones who share my interests to the ones who have completely different interests. The only thing I do not tolerate from people is being told that I'm wrong for being gay. I especially hate it when people try to use the Bible as an excuse to hate me. Look at the animal kingdom - homosexuality occurs in several species. Since it occurs in nature, don't you think it's part of God's plan?

As I move through life, and my spiritual journey, I try to be as accepting and compassionate as I possibly can. I feel for those who cannot be honest with the people in their lives, or even themselves. They bring so much hurt to others, as well as themselves. It is my hope and prayer that we can all be honest with each other and accepting of one another. Learn to open your hearts and continue to grow.