Intro, Prelude and All that Jazz

“The gay gene has been found!”

“God hates fags!”

“God made me this way!”

“Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!”

“Hate the sin, not the sinner!”

Media. Politics. Religion.

The topic of homosexuality has saturated our entire society, and it is charged with polarized perspectives, heated with contention. Everyone has an opinion, and more often than not, it is a very vocal one. Statements are made. Protests occur. Legislation is passed. The QUACKS! of ducks are broadcasted.

The lines have been drawn, and a conflict has ensued on our watch.

There is no neutral ground, and those in the middle are caught in a tug-a-war, all over anissue. Our sights have been aimed and focused on a point of contention, arguing who is right and who is wrong, while the lives of those trapped in the crosshairs fade out of focus. It is a war that has faded to black and white, while the color contained in the lives it regards has been drained from its members. The heated quagmire called homosexuality, has become about opinions and politics, and no longer about the people our contentions regard. Ultimately, a “homosexual” is a precious human life, deservering of respect and love. But in the wake of our decisions in legislation, or in our interpretations of religion or straight up personal opinions, lives will be eternally affected.

Have we forgotten what this really is about?

Regardless of how you vote or what you believe, we cannot forget what this topic ultimately entails–persons of priceless value. We can no longer set our sights solely on convictions of cause, because the result is massive causalities in this civil war.

On this blog I aim to do just the opposite. Forget the battle lines. It is time for a ceasefire in hopes to send in aid to the wounded, regardless of loyalties.

In the pages that follow, I want to take a journey with you, a journey void of propaganda. I refuse to give any ammunition to either camp involved in this horrific conflict. This journey is going to be about people, about invaluable souls.

And maybe, as we begin to see people, more than a ceasefire will ensure. Maybe neutrality can be attained for the sake of the lives in affect, lives hanging in the balance, of one such life is my own. For our sake, it is time we put away the guns, bring down the defenses and take a journey of discovery together. But in order to accomplish this, all of us, regardless of background or conviction, must embark with an open mind. Whether you visited this blog out of pure curiosity, whether you consider yourself or a loved one a homosexual, or whether you just saw “duck” and “gay” on the same blog and tensions rose, I invite you to join this journey.

With the first entry of this blog you will hear a story… my story, which I have striven to be open and honest to the best of my ability. In return, I ask you, the reader, to do the same–to continue through these posts open to new possibilities, while being honest with yourself.

In my second entry you will be confronted with observations, tested not in a classroom or labratory, but with my own life. As a twenty something test-tube, I do not have scholarly years, but of the years I do have, they have been weathered by more than experiments. They have been tested in the fray of this so called “issue” of homosexuality.

Finally, I will share what I believe can chang the tide of this conflict.

But it will not come by mere observation. It will take action.

Every day we are faced with causes. No matter where we turn, someone is fighting for our attention. We go on “Facebook,” and a friend asks us to join their cause. We go to university, and movements travel from campus to campus in search of partners. We turn on the television late at night and orphans in Africa ask for money.

Cause upon cause.

We are continually landblasted with them, and we have come to believe that we accomplish something by simply reading the description, by listening to the lecture or by not changing the channel. Although there are causes aiming to solely bring about awareness, that is not the aim of this blog. I truly believe change ensues when men and women of courage rise up and take action, beginning at a personal level, beginning with ourselves.

In the weeks that follow, you will be faced with paradigm shifts, challenging how you see yourself, those around you and ultimately the topic of homosexuality as a whole. But my heart would break if this blog was simply a “good read” with a “thought provoking perspective.”

Every week another segment of this journey will ensue. It is my hope and desire to cultivate a healthy and active dialogue after each entry, hosted in the comments below. All thoughts are welcome, and I hope that all hearts are open to hear more than their own paradigms reverberated. Let us truly take this journey together, and maybe, just mabye we will discover something as one.

There are lives in the balance. Together, as we embark on this journey, let us dare to hope change can occur, as we first dare to believe we, ourselves, can change.

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without first changing our thinking.”     –Albert Einstein