Bebo

'I'm sorry, Mama. Not for what I am, but for how you must feel at this
moment. I know what that feeling is, for I felt it for most of my
life. Revulsion, shame, disbelief – rejection through fear of
something I knew, even as a child, was as basic to my nature as the
color of my eyes.
No, Mama, I wasn't 'recruited.' No seasoned homosexual ever served as
my mentor. But you know what? I wish someone had. I wish someone older
than me and wiser than the people in Orlando had taken me aside and
said, 'You're all right, kid. You can grow up to be a doctor or a
teacher just like anyone else. You're not crazy or sick or evil. You
can succeed and be happy and find peace with friends – all kinds of
friends – who don't give a damn who you go to bed with. Most of all
though, you can love and be loved, without hating yourself for it.'
But no one ever said that to me, Mama. I had to find it out on my own,
with the help of the city that has become my home. I know this may be
hard for you to believe, but San Francisco is full of men and women,
both straight and gay, who don't consider sexuality in measuring the
worth of another human being.
These aren't radicals or weirdos, Mama. They are shop clerks and
bankers and little old ladies and people who nod and smile to you when
you meet them on the bus. Their attitude is neither patronising nor
pitying. And their message is so simple: Yes, you are a person. Yes, I
like you. Yes it's all right for you to like me too.
I know what you are thinking now. You're asking yourself: What did we
do wrong? How did we let this happen? Which one of us made him that
way?
I can't answer that, Mama. In the long run I guess I really don't
care. All I know is this: If you and Papa are responsible for the way
I am, then I thank you with all my heart, for it's the light and the
joy of my life.
I know I can't tell you what it is to be gay. But I can tell you what it's not.
It's not hiding behind words, Mama. Like family and decency and
Christianity. It's not fearing your body, or the pleasures that God
made for it. It's not judging you neighbor, except when he's cross or
unkind.
Being gay has taught me tolerance, compassion and humility. It has
shown me the limitless possibilities of living. It has given me people
whose passion and kindness and sensitivity have provided a constant
source of strength.
It has brought me into the family of man, Mama, and I like it here. I like it.'
- Michael Tolliver from 'More Tales of the City' by Armistead Maupin

A young man called Tony invited his mother for dinner, during the course of the meal, his mother couldn't help but notice how handsome Tony's flat mate was.

She had long been suspicious of a relationship between the two, and this only made her more curious. Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there
was more between Tony and his flatmate than met the eye.

Reading his mums thoughts, Tony volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Simon & I are just flatmates".

About a week later, Simon came to Tony saying, "Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the frying pan, you don't suppose she took it do you?" "Well, I doubt it, but I will
email her just to be sure," said Tony. So he sat down and wrote:

DEAR MOTHER, I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU "DID" TAKE THE FRYING PAN FROM MY HOUSE, I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU "DID NOT" TAKE THE FRYING PAN,
BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT IT HAS BEEN MISSING EVER SINCE YOU WERE HERE FOR DINNER.

LOVE TONY

Several days later, Tony received an email from his mother which read:

DEAR SON, I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU "DO" SLEEP WITH SIMON, AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU "DO NOT" SLEEP WITH SIMON, BUT THE FACT REMAINS
THAT IF HE WAS SLEEPING IN HIS OWN BED, HE WOULD HAVE FOUND THE FRYING PAN BY NOW

I think everyone’s bisexual to some degree or another; it’s just a question of whether or not you choose to recognise it and embrace it. Personally, I think choosing between men and women is like choosing between cake and ice cream. You’d be daft not to try both when there are so many different flavours." - A quote from Björk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjork#P...