I often wonder why my soul chose to be born a lesbian in this lifetime. I do not think this is my first lifetime as a lesbian, because it all came a bit too easy. But, I do not think I have spent every lifetime as a lesbian either. I am pretty sure my soul has "been around the block," so to speak, and tried all the orientations on for size. Sometimes I wonder which is its most favorite.
On a more serious note, there are some things that straight people, who may not have lived as a GLBT person in a previous life or have forgotten their GLBT previous life, could become aware of to help them understand what it is like being gay in a world which caters to straight people.
A simple start to understanding is to be aware that being gay in a straight world is sort of like being left-handed in a right-handed world. I have come to realize that the way the world is designed is for the ease and pleasure of right-handed straight people. If you think about it long enough you will see this very simple view of the world is fairly accurate, or maybe not.
For example, if GLBT people want to read a good romance novel, it is hard to find varied selection at a typical bookstore. One has to go to a specific bookstore that caters to GLBT people or go searching online and wait for it to be delivered. Rarely, when the inspiration hits, can one run down to the local bookstore and find the title they are dying to read. This same situation also exists for GLBT-orientated movies.
All of our socialization, when growing up, is related to specific roles and expectations based on our perceived physical gender and assumed straight orientation. Once puberty hits and one’s orientation or gender identity comes more strongly into question, GLBT people do not have a huge support system to teach them what it means to be a healthy GLBT person. Straight people have many varied role models and norms. Despite the huge strives in the recent past, it still feels like GLBT people need to justify our right to exist.
In my own life, I do not advertise that I am a lesbian, but I do not deny or hide it either. It is just a minor detail of my life that only affects the romantic aspect of my life. Everything else I do is much the same as all other human beings. Yet, every once in a while, something happens that reminds me I am a threat to all of humanity. What that threat is I am not quite sure, as no one can really pin it down. It is funny that my little life is given all this power, which I never asked for, to destroy marriages, convert people to this way of life and bring down religious organizations. Amazing isn’t it?
I wish straight people could understand that there really is no difference at the heart of it all. Sure, we have our own culture, but so do all subsets of society. That is the great thing about humanity – we are so alike and yet different. It makes life more interesting, fun and adventurous. I also wish straight people would understand that we are not trying to take over the world. We just want our place in it to be acknowledged instead of denied. We do not want to replace the straight culture; we want to exist alongside of it.
GLBT people are not possessed, evil or determined to convert everyone. We are a part of the human race, first and foremost. After that, we are like the left-handed sister you grew up with.
