12. Purple

Today, I wore purple in memory of the three gay men who were killed due to discrimination to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community. I grew up in a Catholic environment, and even studied in a private Catholic school, but I really do not see the reason why humans do not allow their fellows to love another just because they are of the same gender.

I don’t understand why narrow-minded people consider gay people as “dirty”. During the course of my college education I became friends with a bunch of gay people. Mind you, they are far more sensible than those who cannot handle their problems properly and instead go emo and cut themselves. They are far smarter than others generally think them to be. This is another form of stereotyping and generalization that I really hate; even those who are leading successful, healthy lives, are being degraded just because the people who think of themselves “cleaner” beings say they are such. What could be more unfair? Just who do they think they are? I have experienced feelings of love, even lust, toward another woman. Does that make me less human ? No; I strongly believe that the experiences I gained for standing up for that kind of love made me stronger. Those narrow-minded people ought to understand that love takes different forms. Everyone has to be open to let this love sink in. As a Bjork song says, all is full of love. And as a Christian saying states, God is love. Logically, if we are ignoring this type of love, does this mean we are ignoring God as well?

On second thought, gay people should behave more “appropriately” in order to get the treatment they truly want. Aside from the ‘decent’ gay men I know, there are those who act like they have no respect for themselves by flirting around and sleeping with tons of lovers. In fact, I think this advice also goes out to my fellow women who think they should be respected but are acting so cheaply. In all honesty, I think women who sell themselves, the men who take advantage of such vulnerability, those who commit abortion due to unwanted pregnancy, and those who have no respect for life should be the ones discriminated. No matter what circumstances or reasons they have for committing such things, the means are still incorrect. Which is more inappropriate, loving someone and sticking up to it despite the odds and genders, or loving someone out of lust and later on murdering its consequence?

People should take a closer look on themselves before they judge others. At this point, I do not exclude myself. It is because I am human too and I do not put the blame solely on others. Gay people are imperfect beings, but they take pride on their imperfections. They work around it. In the same light, it’s about time we should accept people for who they really are. So purple is the in thing, and upon wearing it I acknowledge my imperfections as well.

-mia-
10/20/2010 (date originally written)