Some Thoughts On Lesbian Pride
Posted on June 15, 2008
Filed Under Gay/Lesbian, New York, Women | Comments Off on Some Thoughts On Lesbian Pride
Posted By Nyna
I’ve been an out (i.e., practicing) dyke for thirty years now, and I have to say that I am more proud today than ever before to be a lesbian AND an American. This year I’ve been able to choose between voting for a woman and an African-American for theoffice of President of the United States, both of whom have promised to guarantee the rights of lesbians and gays when elected.
While we all enjoy and take for granted our constitutional right to “…the pursuit of happiness,” I have gotten to know and love women from other countries where one can receive the death-penalty for being queer. Amazing, isn’t it, how in this same year the president of The Gambia gave homosexuals 24 hours notice to leave the country or be beheaded. Just last year the president of Iran ignorantly claimed that there were no homosexuals in his country, a statement which was greeted with unabashed laughter here at Columbia University.
2008 is also the same year during which Archbishop Desmond Tutu apologized to lesbians and gays on behalf of The Church, and stated that he could imagine Jesus weeping at the treatment received by some of us, perpetrated by The Church.
Years ago I had a lover who was molested in childhood by her father, yet was pressured by her mother and sister to marry a man in order to “preserve the dignity of the family.” I have stood in hospital hallways while my first lover was dying of breast cancer, yet her doctors only discussed her condition with her parents in spite of the fact that documents appointing me as attorney-in-fact were on file with the hospital and the courts. (The nurses, however, were most supportive, and fully acknowledged our relationship.)
I’ve had a lover who couldn’t hold my hand in public out of fear that someone from the office might see her and report back to her work-colleagues. Our straight friends have no idea of the daily pressures we face to conceal our love. What a privilege it is so be able to hold your beloved’s hand without having to think about whether or not it is safe to do so.
Make no mistake: It takes courage to be queer, and it takes even more courage to love. Some of us have more of it than others. To any ignorant, Bible-thumping homophobe, I loudly retort that Jesus commands us to “Love thy neighbor.” Anyone who can’t get his or her brain around that must not have much of a brain in the first place.
Keep loving, ladies! “You are beautiful, no matter what they say…”
Nyna is a screenwriter and film director. She lives in Paris and New York City.
