Coming in late, but I wanted to register the fact that I don't like labels or stereotyping. I never refer to myself as 'straiught', because that would imply that people who are not heterosexual are 'bent'!
How a person dresses, behaves or speaks is not indicative of his/her gender orientation. I have many friends in the LGBT community and unless they tell you what their gender orientation is, you can't tell by looking or listening!
I am heterosexual. I have short hair because I think that when a woman is over 65, as I am, long hair looks silly - besides I have arthritis in my hands and dealing with long hair is too difficult. If I'm not going to church or a dress-up kind of function, I hack around in jeans, worn with t-shirts or cotton shirts in the summer and sweatshirsts or flannel shirts in the winter. I don't wear heels if I'm not going to one of the aforementioned dress-up functions, but comfortable loafers, runners, or boots, with socks - my footwear is appropriate to the weather.
I'm a widow, so I have tools - just not the power kind - and because I like to cook, I have several kitchen appliances that have to be plugged in before they'll work.
My homosexual and bi-sexual friends (I know only one transgendered person) are a varied bunch and because we're friends we tend to enjoy the same activities - some of us like theatre and symphony concerts, some of us enjoy visiting art galleries and museums, some of us are fanatical ice hockey and CFL fans, one is a boxer, several of them play golf and baseball, and some of them do triathlons and marathons (I enjoy hockey, but I find golf and baseball boring, I've never boxed in my life, and I don't have the stamina for marathons or triathlons).
My LGBT friends are as varied in their career choices as they are in their activities off the job. Depeding on the activity we're sharing, I hang with retired teachers and university profs (all male), a caterer (male), three Anglican priests (two male, one female), one doctor (female), a provincial government employee (male), a carpenter (male), an advertising copywriter (female), two broadcasters (male), a museum curator (female) , a union organizer (female) and several actors, musicians, singers, and artists who are both male and female. I've never yet been able to figure out what a 'homosexual lifestyle' is, because they are all so different - some are homeowners, some are apartment dwellers, some are married, some are single, some love to travel abroad, some take all their vacations in Canada.
My point is that we are all different, we all choose a lifestyle that we find comfortable or fulfilling in some way. The only difference between homosexuals, bi-sexuals and heterosexuals is the gender of the person with whom we fall in love!
"God is no captious sophister, eager to trip us up whenever we say amiss, but a courteous tutor, ready to amend what, in our weakness or our ignorance, we say ill, and to make the most of what we say aright." from 'A Learned Discourse on Justification', a sermon by Richard Hooker (1554-1600).
Shall we mention how Newt's gay daughter was treated? Some parents are plain mean. Straight culture?
I am parent, I would never treat my own children straight or gay, nor my partner the way some straight people do, it is terrible.
Flaunting?
Do not get me started.
My "gay culture" comes from years of history and passed on by women who did not even self identify as gay . It came to me naturally. And was fine tuned by my elders.
This does not mean I was "turned gay" it means I learned how to survive being gay, date, and handle very difficult situations without being killed. In my world there is a code of honor.
I am raising boys, they know how to treat people with respect and gentle wonder. That is my gay culture.
Then there are the serial relationships--like Newt Gingrich.
Particularly offensive because he cheated on his first two wives and served his first wife with divorce papers while she was in the hospital being treated for cancer.
While I might not agree with all the consensual sexual activities adults engage in, when there is such blatant deception, abuse and exploitation, that is what is actually "effing disgusting" to quote another poster.
Not all Homosexuals flaunt it, but enough of those people do flaunt it and it's effing disguisting.
Flaunting? Is that like a woman appearing pregnant in public to flaunt that she's been having sex with a man? Yeah, people are into flaunting. Wedding rings, nice clothes, religious symbols - it's all "flaunting" to someone else. :-)
You have several choices if you don't like another person's lifestyle.
(1) Remove yourself from all exposure to people whose lifestyle offfends you. That might include fat people (overeating lifestyle) or divorced and remarried people (Jesus would call that the adulterous lifestyle) or even interracial couples (at one time abhorred by the majority of the US) or people of other faiths (still offensive to many). I'm sure everyone can identify people who offend them.
or
(2) Accept that all other people don't have to select a lifestyle that pleases you. Maybe even find something to like about others. Try seeing them as children of God.
or
(3) Attempt to force people whose lifestyle is offensive to you to change. But, accept that just as many people may attempt to force you to change your lifestyle. What we do to others often comes back to us - good or bad.
or
(4) Complain about it anonymously on an internet message board. :-)
I've met gays and lesbians who are alright with me because they don't get to sick about it.
"To sick"? Did you mean "too sick"?
Do you think that making you not "too sick" is a goal of very many people? Do you go around letting people know if they are "too sick" or "not too sick"? Or do you keep it to yourself?
Go promote a Straight pride parade or I will my Straight brothers and sisters, we'll make it G-rated though.
Good luck with the G-rated. If it's all about straights, that would include those who sleep around, have had multiple marriages or prostitute themselves. That's all part of the "straight lifestyle." Some parts are kind of "sick." Mardi Gras, as Reteach pointed out, is one example of a "straight parade." Enjoy.
You are a born again Christian and you talk like that about people?
Jesus said not to judge others.
Jesus said that how we treat others is how we treat God.
Jesus said to treat others how we want to be treated.
Jesus said to worry about our own planks.
There is nothing of Jesus in your post.
BTW, if you want to see heterosexuals flaunting it try Mardi Gras, Spring Break or any Friday night at a bar. Heterosexuals are just as disgusting. Then there are the serial relationships--like Newt Gingrich.
I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize what you heard was not what I meant...
Not all Homosexuals flaunt it, but enough of those people do flaunt it and it's effing disguisting. I don't want sick lifestyles to be promoted. I've met gays and lesbians who are alright with me because they don't get to sick about it. Go promote a Straight pride parade or I will my Straight brothers and sisters, we'll make it G-rated though.
Yavanna; At least I did not put the unopened cans on a hot fire...
I only used the screwdriver hammer as can opener idea once. When my young family moved into our first home and nothing arrived at the same time. I had 3 cans, baked beans, corn and green beans. No phone or I would've ordered pizza. I was single then.
I told my sons we were going to play "cowboy", I got out a blanket, built a little fire out doors, opened the cans, had 2 spoons and a pair of chop sticks and 3 bowls. I was single then.
That was actually a great deal of fun. This was 9 years ago, my boys were 4 and 6.
Now I have real can openers in the car, in my bag, in my catering tool box, in two homes and in my camping kit. :) I over compensated a little.
We all still play cow boy. My kids still love roughing it. I taught them how to use a cast iron dutch oven and make biskits over the fire, again that is me being a parent. Now the gay part is that my partner joins in the fun, and has learned to add a mess o'greens to the mix. ok, braised baby bok choy.
That isn't gay culture tho, more like parent culture, inventing on the fly. :)
No drill set,work bench or saw, I do have a hammer and a screwdriver which I have used when I misplaced my can opener.
And yes I have Mellisa etheridge ,kD land and even Indigo girls. They are more recent. they all mainstreamed.
dar
Dar, a hammer and screwdriver sound terribly complicated for can-opening! Don't hurt yourself! ;)
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, While hammers fell like ringing bells In places deep, where dark things sleep, In hollow halls beneath the fells.
For ancient king and elvish lord There many a gloaming golden hoard They shaped and wrought, and light they caught To hide in gems on hilt of sword. - J.R.R. Tolkien
