Tuesday, August 26, 2008

August 25, 2008

My birthday was yesterday. As a treat, Melanie took me to see Mama Mia this afternoon. Being the ABBA fan that I am, I thought this movie was absolutely wonderful.

As I listened to Meryl Streep singing Waterloo, I found myself wondering why my German rendition of Waterloo wasn't that big a hit at one of the Christmas parties last year. I asked myself if it could be a lack of talent, but of course I quickly realized what a silly thought that was.

There will be another name to remember during the Transgender Day of Remembrance November 20th. Angie Zapata was found murdered in her Greely, CO apartment last month. Donna Rose spoke at the vigil and wrote of it more eloquently than I possibly could. Read it here.

For every battered body, we will never know the number of battered souls who are bullied or harrassed. As I've written often, it's not only transgender or gay people. It's anyone who is harrassed for no reason other than who they are.

People sometimes talk about the transgender lifestyle, or the gay lifestyle or any lifestyle which deviates from the perceived 'norm', as though it were a choice. Would any sane person choose to live a life in which they have to hide the core of who they are from the rest of the world? Who would choose a life that could mean losing everyone they care about?

How ironic that to gain self respect, some must first lose everything. This is the reality for many in our community.

1 comment:

Lori D said...

Great movie Mamma Mia was! I cried so hard I had to leave when Meryl Streep sings to Pierce just before the wedding.

Yes, it's ironic many of us would loose nearly everything, as if we somehow prefer to choose this loss so we can be ourselves. We just need to keep pushing hard out on the frontier so that others behind us don't lose it all.