re: #260 Blind Frog Belly White

I didn’t watch, but what I hear of Joy Reid’s show today is that it went far beyond the Tweet that everyone’s posting, where she says she doesn’t believe she said those things, but understands why people don’t believe her. She talked about evolving, and had a number of folks on to challenge her.

That’s the key, isn’t it - evolving.

Where I grew up, when I grew up, homosexuality didn’t exist. By that I mean it didn’t exist as a thing that involved anyone you knew; it wasn’t talked about, or acknowledged. There were ‘confirmed bachelors’ and ‘spinster aunts’. “Faggot” was something you called other guys, not even really knowing what it meant. I don’t remember calling anyone that, and I’d like to believe I never did, but I can’t guarantee it.

Public displays of affection between two men used to bother me a bit, honestly. And I’m sure I said things and thought things that would make me cringe today. But, the point is - they make me cringe today. I don’t say them or think them anymore.

I didn’t used to think same sex marriage was ‘right’, somehow. I thought, as many others did, that Civil Unions, with all the legal rights and responsibilities should be enough. Then I thought, maybe it should be Civil Unions for everybody, and marriage should be a ceremonial thing that churches could do for anyone according to their beliefs, but with no legal aspect.

But I realized what I was really doing was trying to keep same sex marriage separate, but equal. So I evolved, and now I realize that was a silly attitude.

Honestly, when my coworker talked about ‘his husband’, it sounded odd, but I realize that this is MY problem, a remnant of my upbringing, and it’s something to get over.

We evolve in our thinking. We don’t think the same as we did years ago, because our experiences teach us that our thinking then was wrong. That’s a good thing.

I can remember a comment thread here from a few years ago where someone was saying that ‘the gay lifestyle’ made him uncomfortable and saw it as a problem. I let him know that if he had a problem with it, it was his problem and not mine. I hope he got the message.