We choose the people that we want for our friends. We choose the careers that we wish to follow. We choose a house to purchase and a spouse to live with us for all of our days. Somehow when it comes to choosing who we actually believe ourselves to be we question whether or not we are choosing or simply bowing to some kind of mental disease of our minds. Those who know that they have a different way of being are not the same as those who are attacked by depression or bipolar disorder. They are not somehow broken. They have chosen to be the persons they know themselves to be.
For centuries the human mind was considered to be sacred and only the domain of God himself. Those who dared to study the brain and human behaviors were often thought of as sacrilegious demons who should be punished for the audacity of attempting to understand how our brains work and what mechanisms cause us to feel certain ways.
Only about one hundred fifty years ago did we humans begin to earnestly attempt to understand how our brains function and why we make certain choices in life. We have learned that there are indeed diseases of the mind caused by malfunctions in the brain. We have identified mental illnesses that are not the result of the devil but of problems in the chemical and electrical aspects of the brain. Some among us suffer from depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other debilitating diseases that are as real as cancer or heart disease. Unfortunately the old taboos continue to deny the existence of such things often leaving those who are afflicted feeling like outcasts and broken souls.
On the other end of the spectrum are those who blame any kind of different behavior in humans on some kind of mental problem that they should be able to overcome given a bit of therapy. So there still exist many people who think of members of the LGBTQ society as sick folks perverting the sexual tradition of a man and a woman being together. What we have learned is that what is really happening is that these individuals innately know that they must choose a different lifestyle because everything tells them that their sexual preferences are not perverse but simply different. They choose the pathway that feels right and comfortable to them and such choices have been made throughout the history of humankind. There has always been an LGBTQ community but through much of history they have had to hide in the shadows because of judgmental souls who found them to be disgusting and sometimes even turned them into outlaws to be punished.
In more recent years our society developed a much more understanding reaction to those whose sexual preferences are different. We seemed to finally understand that such choices did not hurt us and instead lead to happiness for those who had been historically shunned. Suddenly we had gays and lesbians free to be themselves in public. Trans people were hired by the military, the government and even religious institutions. It was a nice time in which we accepted people for who they are rather than forcing them to be afraid to be themselves. Now the old ugly undercurrent of judgement and abhorrence is front and center and innocent souls have become afraid once again.
Surely it has occurred to everyone that few people would choose to become ostracized unless they knew beyond a doubt that somehow their sexuality was different from the majority. Who would purposely make themselves pariahs if not for an internal understanding telling them who they are? Why would we even care that they are different? Why would we attack and demean them? What purpose could there be in our ignorance of their situations?
It has to be very hard to be stared at and even feared wherever one goes when all they want is to be left alone to be themselves. It must create grave anxiety to see laws being enacted to essentially force them to deny who they really are. They are all too often treated like outlaws and perverts when getting to know them would be a kinder and more logical way of accepting them just as they are.
It is heartbreaking to hear the foul accusations about the LGBTQ community being uttered by people who have been found guilty of sexually assaulting women. It is unbelievable to witness the fear that so many people have of these individuals that are based on lies about who they are. It is as though we have not yet left the dark ages when we ascribed evil to anyone who dared to be different.
I hope that we will one day embrace all people and love them just as they are not as we want to force them to be. We can make all kinds of laws sidelining them but history has shown us that they only suffer rather than thanking us for saving them from themselves. They are good people who want to be left in peace. Perhaps one day society will be intelligent enough to realize that their choices do not diminish or hurt us in any way. Just loving them is all we need to do.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 