so this post is bound to turn some people away. but it's something i believe in and i write this for myself as well as my (6) readers.
tolerance. look, we've all been bigoted in some form or another in our lives whether it be racial prejudice, homophobia, sexual discrimination, religious persecution, etc. i'm guilty of it, too. but i also like to think that i've grown enough as a person over time to know that we're one, though we're not the same. (thanks, paul hewson. don't know who paul hewson is? look it up.)
anyway, back to my point. a friend of mine posed the question on facebook today (indirectly through a linked article), what would you do if your son wanted to be a princess? it got me to thinking - i know a scary proposition. but what i came up with surprised me a little, and i'm not afraid to admit that. the bottom line is i just want my kids to be happy. and if being a princess made my son happy, then i'll be happy too.
10 years ago, i wouldn't have felt that way. and even if i did, i would never have admitted it. in my eyes, you were less of a man if you were gay. in a society where masculinity is predicated on how strong we are, how many animals we kill and what our sports iq is, it is easy to buy into that notion. but what really defines us as men more than how we treat our families?
i really am comfortable enough to know that it's okay. my wife loves me and i love her. my kids love me and i love them. to me, that's really all i need.
a few weeks ago, we were asked in our church group by our pastor what we wanted our church to be known for and what we should strive to be. i simply wrote, "love everybody". it really is that simple. people who hate us still deserve for someone to love them. and at some point in their life, somebody did love them. maybe they went astray when that love was taken away.
just something to think about. try a little tolerance (or tenderness...thanks, otis).
Interesting. I would love my son if he wanted to be a princess. Zero questions, not a hesitation. I grew up hearing that Homosexuals kidnapped you and raped you, and they stuck you with from under the bathroom stalls with needles that gave you AIDS. Compliments to the literature distributed by my childhood church. I thought "Gay" meant "Serial Killer". I took until college for me to see the rest of the picture...
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this. I have a friend whose grandson actually does want to be a Princess (he lives with her). She is totally cool with this -- as is the rest of the family -- because he has been this way all along. Just twirling in his little tutu. Now he is in elementary school and the teacher is trying to change him ... Long road ahead for him. And Love really is what we all need.
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