The Closet Door Is Glass

There is a civil rights movement going on. In a country where the declaration of independence says that all men are created equal, there is, once again, a civil rights movement going on. Years ago, women didn't have the right to vote. People fought, people got hurt, people died. After many years of struggle, women gained the right to vote. Years ago, black people had no rights. People fought, people got hurt and people died. After many years of struggle, black people gained their civil rights. Or some of them. And they had to fight again for more, like marrying the person that they loved, regardless of 'color.'

Now people are deciding, almost square acre by square acre, across this country, my civil rights. It seems as though the question of my civil rights has come up a lot in the last year. I find it interesting that all the other people in the nation have a say in my basic civil rights. One might think that in a nation where civil rights struggles have occurred time and again, that, as a nation, it might not be a hard fight to recognize that I am a human being, deserving of rights, simply because I am a human being.

We have been complacent too long. We need to fight. We need to stand up and be counted. We need to get in the face of those who think that they are better than we because they can love someone of the opposite sex. We need to stop standing on the sidelines waiting for our rights to happen. We, as a population of people, need to come together and say that we won't take it any more.

The argument against our struggle being similar to those struggles.... woman's suffrage and the civil rights movement involving black people.... is that "You can hide that you're gay... I can't hide that I am black." Wow. So that means that they deserve rights and I don't? Because I can hide who I am?

Since coming out of the closet, I have never looked back. Sometimes I have scurried behind it for a moment or two, but for the most part, I have been as out as I could be. And frankly folks.... all the lesbian and gay folks out there... that is what MUST happen.

I am not saying that coming out is easy. There are consequences to every action. You may have some struggle at work. You may have to deal with family turmoil. You may have to move. You may have to make changes in your life. You may get hurt. I am not wishing for anyone to have pain, emotional or physical in their life, but the fact remains ....

We must come out. We must show that being in the closet isn't an option. Why should I have to hide who I am in order for people to convey my civil rights to me? And it doesn't even work. Hiding in the closet doesn't work.

For any of you that are struggling with coming out of the closet, let me let you in on a little secret....

YOUR CLOSET DOOR IS GLASS.

Everyone around you knows. They may know and have had many discussions about it. They may know and not want to know. So it doesn't bother them when you are denied your civil rights because you, the gay person in their life, don't have a face to them. But never the less, the closet door is glass.

Break thru. Step out. Walk into the sun.

Rosa Parks stood up for herself and for all the black people in the nation by sitting at the front of the bus.

Find your 'front of the bus'.....

Go to walmart and hold hands with your girlfriend. Give your boyfriend a quick kiss as you walk through the mall. Be noticed. Be brave. Be strong. Be OUT.

Be yourself.