Okay as a parent, this has bothered me for some time and I was just watching an episode of COPS (which I am not in the habit of) and the episode was subtitled "Bad Girls". They were arresting this guy who was obviously transgender and they made it to be what was normal within the gay community. (these people were pretty slimey) Now I'm sure that the average everyday Joe watching this show does not even have a clue about gay people and has his feeling of bigotry reinforced by seeing such things.
With all of that being said, does the everyday "concept" of what people see from the media, and churches for that matter, bother you as much as it does me?
I'd love to hear your experiences and your ideas on this subject.
Hey Teddy! When I've been to a pride parade they put all the media people and bible thumpers in this cage so as they yelled with their loudspeakers it made them look so silly yelling like monkeys in a zoo. I always pray for a better and better movies to be made. I think the most beautiful thing of any relationship is seeing the love in a kiss. Okay so I think it's so beautiful of the closeness and tenderness. My mom was my hardest person to help understand that love exists in all walks of life. When I first came out to her I had a gay roommate. Well she just "asumed" that he was my lover because she felt there was only like 5 or 6 gays per state so you had to grab the first one. She tried I'll give her that much. My friend was found out that he was gay and was cast out from his church. I guess I am just floored at some view it as gays are perverts. One lady was talking about how she couldn't stand gays and I told her I was gay and her mouth dropped...like oops. She said "you can't be gay, you don't have a nose ring and blue hair"... oh brother
I don't know if this is "blasphemous" for a gay man to say about his own culture...but I just can't STAND that TV show "Will & Grace"! The gay caricatures on that show make me realize what it feels like for a black person to watch "Amos & Andy". Of all of the gay men that I have met,not one of them acts as "swishy" as Jack does! And now I hear that Britney Spears is going to play a nutty Christian on one of the last episodes. Talk about blasphemy! I am glad that it is going off the air! I hope TV starts showing BOTH gays AND Christians in a more positive light...or I might just cancel my satellite subscription!
Dearest brethren, I can't answer on the issue of homosexuality, but as a transgender I feel they get a bad rap. I have found that to be female in thought, emotion and spirit allows me to have a deeper compassion on my brethren without my male ego getting in the way. I can come before my precious Lord as a soldier when I have to for spiritual battle and yet I can come unto him as a maid seeking that wich is necessary for a babe in her charge. My feminine inner self allows me to pray more effectively than I ever could as a male only. Truly my precious Lord Jesus has blessed me with the abilty to seek the sword of the spirit when needed as well as what the scriptures call the milk from the breasts of consolation as a nurse and maid for babes. I feel that I have truly been blessed and I love our precious Lord with all my heart and all my soul and all my might. Blessed be his holy name. May God bless you all. Love, Samantha.
Great post Samantha! I realized that I am guilty as well of "lumping" all of the GLTB's into one category. Clearly there are differences. It just goes to show that if someone like myself can do this, what the average everday person who has not been touched by any of these issues personally, would view GLTB issues. I hope that made sense. In my first post I was trying to show how the media portrays GLTB people. I thought the show I was watching was saying to the public, "this is what normal behavior is in this community". I know that this is simply not the truth.
Of course the same could be said for shows like this that depict people from East Texas, you know the ones with no shirt on, missing half their teeth and in a fight with their wife cause she would not go to the store to buy him beer and cigarettes. That's an everyday occurance here, I'm sure.
Dearest Teddy; There truly is too much stereotyping in the world. What is so sad dear, is that those who do so swing the door wide open to the devil to torment people. Oh, how many times I sat and hoped the the topic of conversation would't turn to feminine men or women's clothing. The people that originally made the remarks that lumped me with transvestites didn't even realize that to be gentle and sensitive is of great price when dealing with other people's problems. They didn't know that our precious Lord Jesus wore skirts (towel at footwashing) and robes. The very male ego they cherished kept them from (feeling) their brethren's pain and their clothesline doctrine stopped them from going any farther with their faith. Their doctrinal head, so to speak may have become a god before our precious Lord Jesus. To me dear, the preaching of the cross is the power of God unto salvation. It is not telling homosexuals, lesbians, and transgenders they are going to hell. Dearest Teddy, I believe the preaching of the cross is to use the law and prophets to show the coming of the messiah that would save man. To show who he would be, what he would fulfil and to bear witness to him. The new testament bearing witness to that as well. To me dear, not all bald guys are white supremeists, not all of my relatives in Kentucky intermarry, nor do all homosexuals test positive for HIV. I guess I went on to long dear, but I love my precious Lord Jesus. May God bless you all. Love, Samantha.
i honestly never knew anyone who was gay until 2 years ago, and i had no clue that he was. i think what i expected was exactly what jeffery talked about, the show will and grace, had my friend been like jack i would of figured he was gay. theres my ignorance for ya.
I know A LOT of gay people and some of them are completely stereotypically gay and some of them are not at all. I think they're all great. I love the swishy queeny ones, the butch gals, the bois, whatever they are - they are all part of our community. The thing to remember about stereotypes is that they usually do come from somewhere and usually it's not the most common traits but the most outrageous. It's hard sometimes to sit there and be portrayed as a wacko but I think if we as gay people, come out, and tell everyone that we know that we are gay and let them see that we are real it will go a long way in changing stereotypes.
-- Edited by CaliPK at 16:59, 2006-03-02
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Going cold turkey isn't nearly as delicious as it sounds - Homer Simpson.
Amen to that, Susan! It took my son coming out before we really realized that gay people are just people! The more we've met, the more we see that we are all the same - just humans trying our best to get through this life!
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
I've heard it said that one reason there is stereotyping at all is because there is a grain of truth in some of it. However that grain sometimes is more like a burr in someone's saddle and they end up looking for the sterotypes in everyone who, in this case, is lgbtq.
In big cities there is a freedom to be more flamboyant which I believe is often rooted in a kind of in-your-face anger. Think of that 70s movie "Boys In The Band". I try very hard not to judge "camp" when I see it.
I, shamefully now, would turn my back on a childhood friend whenever he was being teased or called names. He was naturally effeminate, I guess. How could it not have been natural when this was long before either of us knew what being gay was?
So, with so much judgment against us from society-at-large and the Church, I try to go the extra mile not to judge characteristics in others - however sterotypical. It is not easy but I think it's what we may be called to do as "different" Christians.
I know A LOT of gay people and some of them are completely stereotypically gay and some of them are not at all. I think they're all great. I love the swishy queeny ones, the butch gals, the bois, whatever they are - they are all part of our community. The thing to remember about stereotypes is that they usually do come from somewhere and usually it's not the most common traits but the most outrageous. It's hard sometimes to sit there and be portrayed as a wacko but I think if we as gay people, come out, and tell everyone that we know that we are gay and let them see that we are real it will go a long way in changing stereotypes. -- Edited by CaliPK at 16:59, 2006-03-02
Imagine what a kid would be like if Jack & Wilma procreated... that's me.
Seriously though... I can be uber girly and I can be mr. macho man. What I've found is that when I'm in a community of people that welcome & love me, I don't feel the need to try and "be" someone for other people... I have the freedom to be who I am in each moment.
Whether that's working on my truck with my shirt off and getting all grimy... Or trying to win a Cher look-a-like contest... :)
love your life.
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Perfect love casts out fear. God is love. Anything else is a lie.
Good advice, Nathan. I know that being yourself is so important. That's why I wanted to call this site "Safe in The Shepherd's Arms" because I always want anyone who comes here to be completely safe to be who they are. I feel that way about my home, too. If you come here, you are family and are completely free to be who God created you to be!!
And you are all invited!!!
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
BTW, on one of only two occasions I have dressed in drag for a local "Prom You Might Have Wished to Go To" I looked like a 6'3" version of my mother - and it was at a time when I could tease my hair so I was closer to 6'6" .
To quote my friend, who helped, "The higher the hair, the closer to God." But that was SO 80s . I feel closer to God now with shorter, greyer hair - and it has everything - and nothing - to do with the varieties of ways I express myself.
Imagine what a kid would be like if Jack & Wilma procreated... that's me.
Whether that's working on my truck with my shirt off and getting all grimy...
So...I imagine that your birth video would resemble the gay version of "Alien"? Also, I believe that I speak for everyone here when I say that we all would just love to see a picture of you with your shirt off, and your chest all grimy from working on the truck all day. We are most horny...er, I mean hungry...to see what that picture would be like!
The gay caricatures on that show make me realize what it feels like for a black person to watch "Amos & Andy". Of all of the gay men that I have met,not one of them acts as "swishy" as Jack does! And now I hear that Britney Spears is going to play a nutty Christian on one of the last episodes. Talk about blasphemy! I am glad that it is going off the air! I hope TV starts showing BOTH gays AND Christians in a more positive light...or I might just cancel my satellite subscription! 
. 
. I feel closer to God now with shorter, greyer hair - and it has everything - and nothing - to do with the varieties of ways I express myself.
Also, I believe that I speak for everyone here when I say that we all would just love to see a picture of you with your shirt off, and your chest all grimy from working on the truck all day. We are most horny...er, I mean hungry...to see what that picture would be like! 
