I have no time now to write my own blogs….so again I use someone elses article here…..I guess not only because I don’t have time, but also because it’s an excellent article and as the title says………IMAGINE THE WORLD AS IF YOU WERE GAY…especially with regards to the constitutional amendment currently on track to make the way to our ballots come the next presidential election.
The original article can be found at this link: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/121811434.html
(Again, I do not claim any of this article as my own, it was written by Nicole Berg)
Can you imagine a family where being straight made you the minority? That was my family. I am straight and my brother and sister are both gay.
When I was growing up and my siblings first came out, I often heard my mom say: “I just don’t want things to be harder for them, and I know they will be now because they are gay.”
I thought this was a weird thing to worry about. I wanted her just to love them and not worry about how other people would think or act towards them. I would reassure her everything would be OK. Her response was always the same: “There are cruel people out there, Nicole, people who will treat them differently and try to hurt them just for being gay.”
At the time I never felt that way. My siblings are beautiful, inside and out — funny, outgoing, smart, generous people. I couldn’t imagine anyone not liking them.
I saw the world with child’s eyes.
It’s now been many years, and I can finally say I know what my mom was referring to. Things are hard for my brother and sister; they always have been:
Both have been physically harmed because of their sexual orientation.
Both have been verbally harmed.
Both have been emotionally harmed.
Both have been discriminated against.
Both have been looked at in disgust.
Both have been scared to go places because of what people might do to them.
Both have cried to me because of how cruel people have been to them because of their sexual orientation.
I could give specific examples, but I don’t have the emotional strength to go there. I have witnessed all of this. I have seen the looks they get from people. I have heard the remarks. I have witnessed their sadness, their tears, and their fears.
And what is truly amazing is, they still manage to see the good in people. They are not bitter, but loving. They do not hate. They still see the beauty in people. They still love.
Our ability to love and be loved is what will keep the world turning; it is what will make us flourish. The love I have for my brother and sister is beyond anything I can describe and makes me feel that anything is possible.
I am not asking everyone out there to love my siblings. I only ask that you respect their right to love and to be loved. The proposed constitutional amendment against them will add to the already long list of cruelties done to them. No one will benefit from this amendment. Instead, by passing it, you will be telling the world it is OK to put another human beings’ rights on a ballot. It is another form of discrimination against people who deal with discrimination every day.
Please show some compassion. Please show some respect. Please show some love.
If it is hard for you to imagine where I am coming from, please close your eyes and imagine your child, brother, sister, mother, father — your loved ones. Now imagine if it was their rights on the line. How would you want them to be treated? How would you vote?
Nicole Burg, Brooklyn Park, is an advertising project manager.
Can you just imagine if it was your child. Think deep it could happen to any family out there, how do you know how your children are going to grow up so think deeply before you point a finger.