Sexual identity should not be a
problem since it is but part of humanity's rich tapestry; the least of a gay
person’s enemies should be human nature. Human nature, though, has a penchant
for selectivity; it is called discrimination and does its best to give racism,
homophobia and various forms of socio-cultural-religious bigotry a sense of
legitimacy.
Fortunately, few of us are foolish
enough to be fooled. Tragically, though, the darker side of human nature
continues to prevail in some parts of the world where fools usurp positions of
power and make a good job of pretending to be working for the good of all
rather than only themselves.
Gay and transgender men and women
have come a long way since I was a tormented gay youth more than half a century ago. Yet,
there is no room for complacency. Those of us who are comfortable and confident
in our sexuality should never forget those who found the courage to help change
things for us nor those who continue to be persecuted for it; physically,
psychologically or both.
Homophobia, like racism, is a
disgrace to humanity. Moreover, it may well be happening closer to home than
you think. Just because it is not happening to you, is no excuse for turning a
blind eye to the suffering, often unspoken, of others. We can’t change bad
attitude overnight, but neither should we stop trying.
The less enlightened among the
heterosexual majority need to understand that we are just ordinary people
getting on with our lives and our sexuality is no one’s business but our own;
they have no right to frighten gay boys and girls, men and women into staying
in some dark, lonely closet. Oh, but how I well recall that even now, 50+ years on…!
Tears of pain, tears of joy...who has not experienced them all, sometimes even a the same time...?
Tears of pain, tears of joy...who has not experienced them all, sometimes even a the same time...?
ANTHOLOGY OF TEARS or G-A-Y
DISCOVERS O-U-T
Your mouth on mine, your spirit
invading my dreams, my conventional
life
ripped apart at the seams,
I began to see what I hadn’t felt
able
to acknowledge for years,
that sadness is not the only cause
for tears
but joy, too, debunking fears
instilled in me by ritual, threat
and bribes
of salvation (my reward in
‘heaven’)
demanding I recognize wrong from
right,
never go where angels fear to
tread,
always let Holy words have the last
say
and avoid people who are gay
Your raw boldness entered me,
a roughness like sandpaper burning
me up
yet it was not for this my tears
fell
but on feeling my body assume a new
form,
its contours honed to something
beautiful, no mere glossy cover for
anyone
to read but an art form likely to
last
centuries in minds open to
expressions
of individuality as well its
privacies,
respectful of inspiration and
aspiration,
no matter how some rate its chances
for salvation (whatever they mean
by that)
or in terms of ‘moral’ judgement
You filled me with a rare passion
who had been kept behind bars,
supposedly
for my own protection, but you
divined
a pain I could not share, broke
into my prison
that did not even have a name
and showed me how not everyone’s
truth
is the same nor any shame
in going against this version or
that so long
as we believe right is on our side;
better by far (surely?) than to
have stayed put,
lied for appearances sake…
and what’s wrong with taking a same
sex lover,
making the most of who we are?
Yet, come the body’s joy for our
lovemaking,
let tears fall, too, for those
(still) kept waiting
[From: On the Battlefields
of Love by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2010]
[Note: Due to an editorial error,
this poem also appears in Tracking
the Torchbearer by R. N.
Taber, Assembly Books, 2012]
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