Why I Care

"In the village we believe that differences should enrich instead of divide"

The rest of this quote can be found here

This was a quote on an art installation on Rue St. Catherine in the Village of Montreal. The Village is widely known as the most accepting neighborhood of the city and home to a large LGBT community. After all of the fuss with DOMA and the marriage act from last week, I'd like to remind y'all, and myself, of what I think the fight is truly about.

It's not about democrats vs. republicans, civil unions vs. marriage, or state vs. federal law: I support the gay rights movement because we all have the right to be different. 

For example, I'm a Christian, and my faith is something that I am not only open about, but also is a huge part of how I self-identify. I'm also black. And a woman. Without these characteristics, I'd feel lost in the huge world I'm just learning to navigate. So, when I see hatred towards the LGBT community I feel a quick rush of anger which slowly melts into confusion. I grew up in a community similar to the Village in Montreal and learned to love people no matter what they looked like or who they loved. 

Sometimes people question my thoughts on gay rights when they find out about my faith. I once had a friend who was scared to tell me that he was gay because he knew I was a Christian. The first thing I'd like to say is that, while I believe everyone has a right to their opinion, the way my fellow Christians sometimes treat people who are different than them really disappoints me. However, in turn, I don't feel that I have any right to tell them how they should feel, and more importantly, I know I have no right to tell them how God feels about their actions. 

We're all born with differences, and I would be very very bored if everyone I knew was just like me. I understand that accepting others is one of the hardest tasks we're faced with in this world, and I do not pretend that there aren't times when people whose choices I don't agree with frustrate me. I just ask that we remind ourselves to take a inhale of patience and breathe out some of that hate. It's not good for you anyways :)

Questions? Stories to share? Thoughts on DOMA? Leave a comment!