by Raenel Breucop, The Conservative Advocate

Straight Talk in the Gay Community

All Together Now!

Last year I really made an effort to participate in the gay community. I attended a luncheon about the time Gay Pride festivities were starting up in our city. A notable individual was the guest speaker and the founder of the Gay Pride movement here locally . In a restaurant full of professionals and business owners this person's story was chock full of sexual innuendos that led to how Gay Pride came into existence in our city. The luncheon ended with an audience member requesting the phone number off the bathroom wall the speaker eluded to in his story. You've got to be kidding me...

I've never marched in gay parades. Personally, my take is this: when heterosexuals decide to have a parade celebrating what they do behind closed doors, then maybe I'll consider romping the streets in a gay parade, then again maybe not.

It's neither right nor wrong - gay parades, they're just parades. It's all about why we do what we do. Why do I need to be in Gay Pride Parade? If we are 'out and proud' while our actions alienate others, causing others to keep their distance, we may be ignoring deep-seated pain, just pretending to go on our merry, gay way while inside we are suffering.

If I can shock you enough that you leave me alone, my pain, my guilt, the rejection I've grown so accustomed to stays at a constant level that I'm used to. I protect myself by repelling you so you cannot add to my pain. How do I know that? Because I'm gay and have been a very long time. Through years of depression, attempted suicide, drugs, alcohol, sex addiction, near death then sterility, add a nervous breakdown in bed for six months. Being an evangelist, preaching against homosexuality, experiencing miraculous healing, being married and divorced twice, having a child and then falling in love with a woman-tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor.. I've done it all.

So now, if I can pull the chain that turns your light on to help you be free, then I'm all over it.

All that matters is what you think and feel about you. Forget what other people say. And no matter how hard you try, you don't know what they think. It's so important that you feel good about you. Check in with your Self on a regular basis and make sure that you're really okay being gay. Then if you need to talk, I'm here for you.

We must make every effort to bring us all together-every last one of us. We really are not different, we are one. Regardless of race, religion, creed, gender, sexual preference, abilities and disabilities, inside we are all the same. You do realize that your body is just a spirit container, don't you? Only Western philosophy refers to male and female gender as separate entities. Think about this; what is your spirit going to be in when this container is emptied? Your spirit - the breath of life, the Real You, is eternal. "You are not breathing, you are being breathed."

We are all slices of the same pie set on different plates.

So, who are you? Is what you call yourself or want to be called who you are? I choose to be called an inspirational mentor, a writer, speaker. or coach rather than a gay this or that. Let's be mature enough to stop using labels that indicate what we do behind bedroom doors. Be mindful that labels are mostly opinions, different from titles. Opinions stir your emotions then you struggle to get that chatterbox in your head to shut up. The goal is peace.

Let's be kind to one another to prevent any person from being separate from us. Love your neighbor as yourself is a huge clue. You have to love yourself before you can love anyone else. It begins with loving you and it will end with loving you.

Infinite Intelligence, the Universal Mind loves us so much that we say His/Her/God/ Spirit's name before our own. Where ever you are, whenever any of us meet someone new. We say, "I Am _________". I Am - the sacred name of God. Say that right now, say I Am then 'your name'. Now take a deep breath. What a beautiful thing.

I love this quote from Yogiraj, "Humanity is our only religion, breath our only prayer and consciousness our only God."

Did you know that Universe means "One Song"? Each of us are just different verses of One Song. Can't you hear the Great Maestro tapping His music stand, lifting His baton and saying, "All Together Now!"

It's all about gifting and receiving.
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