Here
in the West, it has been my experience that many gay people take freedom of
sexual identity for granted. True, there is no denying that homophobia is still alive and kicking. Yet, I have listened over the years to chilling tales of how it is to be gay in countries
where same sex relationships remain a criminal offence (Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and various African countries among many) punishable by a public whipping, prison or worse. I have learned to
count my blessings…even during those low points in my life when they may
otherwise have seemed too thin on the ground for much comfort.
The heart is a free country, not a prison; wherever its every beat expresses fear of exposure under pain of punishment, even death, that's more than an abuse of Human Rights, but makes any of any religious dogma advocating it the greater abuse or sin against humanity by far. Religion is meant to be an expression of love; no God of Love would condone hate crime in any shape or form. I left my local Church Sunday School for this very reason at the age of ten years, four years before I realised and acknowledged (to myself at least) that I am gay.
It is a tragedy for the West that many if not most immigrant families bring their religious dogma with them, forcing their gay young people into the kind of closet public opinion forced me into years ago; one which resulted in a mental breakdown in my early 30's and a suicide attempt. Even now, I bitterly regret not coming out to family, friends and work colleagues, whatever their take on homosexuality, until my early 40's.
The heart is a free country, not a prison; wherever its every beat expresses fear of exposure under pain of punishment, even death, that's more than an abuse of Human Rights, but makes any of any religious dogma advocating it the greater abuse or sin against humanity by far. Religion is meant to be an expression of love; no God of Love would condone hate crime in any shape or form. I left my local Church Sunday School for this very reason at the age of ten years, four years before I realised and acknowledged (to myself at least) that I am gay.
It is a tragedy for the West that many if not most immigrant families bring their religious dogma with them, forcing their gay young people into the kind of closet public opinion forced me into years ago; one which resulted in a mental breakdown in my early 30's and a suicide attempt. Even now, I bitterly regret not coming out to family, friends and work colleagues, whatever their take on homosexuality, until my early 40's.
CLOSET FEAR
No
one can know we’re lovers,
(everyone
sees us as good friends)
nor any peace of mind, given a love
that's taboo
No
one can know we share a bed
whenever
I stay over at your place,
taking
each day as it comes, for good
or
ill
No
one can know we’re gay men
playing
hide-and-seek with shadows,
one
mind-body-spirit no less deserving
of nurture
No
one must guess our secret,
war
weary of judgmental stereotypes
dragging
us down even as we recharge
its
batteries
No
one must catch a single look
between
us that even hints at a story
that
dare not be told though reworked
for
centuries
No
one must guess we’re lovers;
many would have us publicly stoned
to
death to satisfy an inhumanity baying
for
blood
Yet,
we will lie, bodies entwined,
away
from prying eyes and loose talk,
make love among far kinder hypotheses,
dream
on…
Copyright R. N.
Taber 2015
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