|
|
|
timmy
|
 |
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
I have just come home from installing my son in his room for his first term at university.
Prominent in the papers in his room, awaiting him like it awaited every fresham was a short note from the GLBT society, inviting him to an informal meeting. Orientation was not relevant. He was simply invited.
I had a sudden "If only that has existed when I was a student" moment. But that was in 1970, and then we had Gay Lib, so very different and militant to create todays semi-acceptance.
I am not going for one moment to doubt the hard road that today's teenagers have to follow. And I acknowledge freely that some free nations have very oppressive enclaves.
But, Oh to be a gay teen today instead of the 1960s. To feel at least half welcome..........
And I shed a silent sob.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
marc
|
 |
Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
|
|
|
Kids today still have a far way to go before we all see total acceptance. There is no argument there.
But things are alot better now than they were in 1963.....
Things were done then that people today would scream to have stopped in the name of humanity....
Things were said so called "role models" that would land them in prison today.... Things that hurt to the very core of ones being....
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
Having defined homosexuality as a pathology, psychiatrists and other doctors made bold to "treat" it. James Harrison, a psychologist who produced the 1992 documentary film Changing Our Minds, notes that the medical profession viewed homosexuality with such abhorrence that virtually any proposed treatment seemed defensible. Lesbians were forced to submit to hysterectomies and oestrogen injections, although it became clear that neither of these had any effect on their sexual orientation. Gay men were subjected to similar abuses. Changing Our Minds incorporates a film clip from the late 1940s, now slightly muddy, of a young gay man undergoing a transorbital lobotomy. We see a small device like an ice pick inserted through the eye socket, above the eyeball and into the brain. The pick is moved back and forth, reducing the prefrontal lobe to a haemorrhaging pulp. Harris's documentary also includes a grainy black-and-white clip from a 1950s educational film produced by the U.S. Navy. A gay man lies in a hospital bed. Doctors strap him down and attach electrodes to his head. "We're going to help you get better," says a male voice in the background. When the power is turned on, the body of the gay man jerks violently, and he begins to scream. Doctors also tried castration and various kinds of aversion therapy. None of these could be shown to change the sexual orientation of the people involved.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
Perhaps the younger members here will forgive we old goats when we sometimes seem terrified of things. Or when we tellyou that thinsg are easier for you.
Some of us had to endure the reality of thsi hhorror. Others "just" had the fear of it.
I know that some today, on this board, also fear today's injustices if they reveal who they are to the world
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
marc
|
|
Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
|
|
|
Its true......
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
marc
|
|
Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
|
|
|
they would say this is for your own good
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hey! I noticed a similar announcement during my first day of college (roughly two months ago). Does anyone know what it is? Is it kind of like a physical emobodiment of this forum - a support group? You see, I would have liked to have gone to such a meeting but was too scared at the time - and now, too, probably - and chickened out.
viðrar vel til loftárása
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
marc
|
|
Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
|
|
|
Two good groups to look for...
The Gay Straight Alliance...
PFLAG.....
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No Message Body
viðrar vel til loftárása
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
Some are good, some poor. Only by going can you see
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I'll try. And, uh . . you might want to check your email.
viðrar vel til loftárása
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
smith
|
 |
On fire! |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 1095
|
|
|
that when I leave this place where I can't be me.......one day, I won't be a gay boy who happens to be nice and friendly. I'll be a nice, friendly boy who just happens, by the grace of God, to be gay.
I say that alot to myself, Marc. Thank you. JJ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amen smith... and what a great day that will be....
Celebrate your life... embrace your love... Become intimate with your place in forever !!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks Timmy for posting that info...those days weren't too long ago...
And the strong reasons for hope like PFLAG and the GSA's will make it easier when the young people who have to stay in the closet now will be able to go out and see the light of day as themselves.
Yay for that...
"Always forgive your enemies...nothing annoys them quite so much." Oscar Wilde
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
My father had driven me there and after unloading the car we took a stroll through the campus, where he was somewhat taken aback to see posters advertising something called GAY SOC.
Well he needn’t have worried. I did not own any kind of sexual identity, so the idea of attending a GAY SOC event was unthinkable. I spent most of my student life avoiding parties and growing increasingly bewildered by the social behaviour of those around me.
A few weekends ago I went back there for the first time in many years. It was a class reunion and I met a number of people for the first time since my student days. Now nearly all of them are married with kids. I feel as much of an outcast now as I did then.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
if it's any consolation, I feel like an outcast at reunions, too. Ithas nothingto do with orientation, marriage, or anything like that. It has to do with me and the way I see them. Not them or their status
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
That I am beginning to be happy that the world is easing, at least in not religious fanatical areas (In which I include fundamental Muslim sects, US Southern Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and so many others in a list too long to mention).
But the comfort I gained yesterday is also a discomfort. Boys and girls die every day because they are gay. Often by their own hands. Often by other people, directly or indirectly.
And yet I was given hope yesterday. I wept because I wanted that hope for me, in October 1971, when I enetered university and left my oppressive home. But it was not yet ready to be given. We had, and neeeded The Gay Liberation Front, then. It did its job. It did it well. But I needed love and kindness, not activists.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
smith
|
|
On fire! |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 1095
|
|
|
In so many places, eyes are opening and people are waking up to realize that deep down, everyone is the same: same fears, same hopes, same dreams. The terror you felt in your generation was very real........the fear we feel in ours in just as real but perhaps the next generation will find the acceptance we both wanted and couldn't quite find.
Wonderful people like Setras as discovering that if they take that first baby step, a whole new world opens up and what was once a hidden hurt becomes that very acceptance they have searched for.
((hugs}}
smith
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
robert bryce
|
 |
Really getting into it |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 414
|
|
|
I think we are forgetting Stonewall and the other brave people that have risked life and limb to bring an awareness that gays are human and do bleed.We also need to consider the brave authors that bring to this medium good stories that portray gays as decent people..The brave authors that bring to attention that there are monster parents out there that will toss their sons or daughters out to the street..CRVBOY hosts an author that has produced a massive volume on two gay guys that raise a huge family of gay foster kids,hanratty,Seq. Pendor, Driver and other fantastic authors do us all a great service with their stories..Hell,some of these authors are straight and have families..Awesome people that have made this a better world..Right here in this forum we have a venue for people to share hopes and dreams,some are not so nice and treat this place like a school yard,but we can learn even from that.What the hell is wrong with being an activist???There are people out there that want to kill US ALL..Sorry Timmy,laying down and being crushed aint my way of living life and NICE dont cut murder.. ...rob
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
Stonewall and gay lib and black power and all the other activist groups had their place. Perfect tense.
Today they are out of place in the format they were in the 60s and 70s. We have what they fought for. And what we have is the true ability to educate.
Fighting brings violence in return.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
Setras is right. Recently I had to tell people at my old employer of my orientation for seriosu self defence reasons. That was good, too. Mostly today when people come out it goes ok. Sometimes it goes well.
The graduation from terror to fear is a good one. Whiel it still feels hard to be gay the reality in general is that it is less hard by a great margin.
My generation started this move to acceptability by fighting. I was not brave enough to participate.
Today's generation is able to start to educate.
Future generations will start to be able to live.
We are a part of that
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
robert bryce
|
|
Really getting into it |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 414
|
|
|
Dear friend:: you seem to miss my point...Acts of violence were not discussed in my previous post at all..fighting for ones destiny or self determination can be accomplished without active violence on our part,but WE sure as hell dont have to peacefully trudge to the gas chambers..God Timmy hasnt the world learned anything from what Hitler and Joe Stalin done???????.....The world is gripped with apathy..Almost 5 decades ago my loving parents trashed a beautiful friendship between myself and another boy..Two lives were shattered..My friend Marc had his life ripped apart..Mad as hell dont even begin to cover the emotions that are ripping me apart right now..I sure as heck do not want to earn your wrath at this point,but reading that last post bounces my banana if you get my drift..rob
:-[
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
robert bryce
|
|
Really getting into it |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 414
|
|
|
Unknown to a vast number of people,large sums of money both here in America and other countries are being spent to research the *gay* gene,isolate and identify that gene or whatever,and develope a filter that would prevent this gene from passing through the placenta (sp) to the fetus..This is not science fiction,this is reality..The Catholic church and other religions are up to their armpits in this work and have earmarked billions to see this bullshit become reality..This isnt murder,this isnt simple war,this is geniocide on a scale so huge as to make the second comming look like a walk in the park..500,000,000 people,more than the population of North America is at stake..You really got me Banana shaking now Timmy...........rob
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
And when you feel left out Nick, please remember it is them... not you. You are the one being true to who you are inside. The way society has not accepted those who are less than 'perfect' in their eyes they look at with disdain.
About the having kids???? I get it not only socially, but my children do not accept homosexuality as being right in any way shape or form... so while things are better today in general, we still wrestle with being accepted.
I can only say... rest in those friendships and relationships that help us move ahead...
And thank you for being a part of this board....
BamBam
Celebrate your life... embrace your love... Become intimate with your place in forever !!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
What I mean is simple, and it does not involve going quietly to be slaughtered.
It means that most initial movements in any minority that is oppressed espouse confrontation. Ifyou recall the Black Power salutes at the Olympic Games these make a good example. Even Martin Luther King's peaceful protests were as confrontational as drawing a gun. When The Gay Liberation Front happened, when the Stonewall Riots happened these were also confrontational.
In their time they were the absoloute right things to do.
And they were in the middle of huge battles. Real fighting. Sometimes with words, sometimes with true and real violence.
Peole realised, eventually, that times were changing. The mass discipline of the first world war and then the second world war collapsed. We no longer consented to incompetent governments, but started to question our elected leaders. And leaders were overthrown in undemocratic nations and unelected in the democratic ones.
The fight moved from physical to intellectual.
I am deliberatly comparing Black activism and Gay activism.
Why?
First the timing. Simialr, with the Blacks ahead every step of the way.
Second the migration to peace. We see seriously senior black people where previously we saw none. And the same for gay people. We see seriously intellectual black people now. And the same for gay people. We see black superstars and gay superstars. And neither is a curiosity any more, but is the norm.
At present, mostly, there is no mass movement to demonise gay people. The genetics post I will answer as a reply to it. There is no movement leading to gas chambers, and nothing stands in our way except our own fears of being outed.
Activism is valid. It simply needs to stand up to real threats of today, not historic threats of yesterday.
I do not appreciate the following comment:
> I sure as heck do not want to earn your wrath at this point,but reading that last post bounces my banana if you get my drift..rob
I do not get your drift, simply because you have failed to seek to learn what is in my mind, and I feel in the same position as someone hearing the words "I am sorry, but......", which is belittled and insulted.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
timmy
|
|
Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
|
|
|
Please stop accusing me of things. I do not appreciate it. You have a free choice how you react to things. Blaming me for your reaction is facile behaviour.
The entire concept of eugneics is not new. It was practiced until recenty in Sweden, for example, with many women forcibly sterilised as a part of ridding the population of undesirable elements.
There are many valid reasons (please let us not discuss the entire abortion issue here, let us simply live with what exists) for terminating a foetus that is unhealthy. These reasons range from spina bifida through Downs Syndrome all the way to totally malformed and unviable.
These reasons seem valid to everyone except living examples of those affected by the ailments. Quite reasonably they argue that they woudl not be alive if they had been so terminated.
But homosexuality is not an illness. The other items are illnesses or ailments or malformations. Homosexuality is not. Railing against the Catholic Church for genetic research is not useful. They won't stop priests buggering choirboys, sop they certainly won't listen to a voice railing against a potential eugenics programme.
And railing against people just because it's homosexuality under putative threat is likeloy to lead to ridicule and isolation.
A well constructed campaign against genetic engineering on human beings is a different matter.
But.....
I have a family history of Parkinson's Disease. My father, his sister and their father died of it. His sister married a man who also died of it. And it is said not to be hereditary. But, if they discovered a cure which involved a genetic manipulation, I would embrace such a result. And I would embrace it in manipulating my offsprings genes too.
So where is the line crossed?
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
robert bryce
|
|
Really getting into it |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 414
|
|
|
We agree to disagree...Your return posts to rob are a little unfair..I have read and reread these last posts and absolutely no accuzations were ever made..We both seem to have strong feelings about certain things with all due respect I believe my last posts were informative and not combative and I am very hurt.............rob
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why do you refer to yourself in the third person? I have ideas but I would rather hear it directly from one of you. hehe 
Just curious,
Kevin
"Be excellent to each other, and, party on dudes"!
|
|
|
|
|
] 
A Place of Safety
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
In our day this was normal. Sensitve souls: do not open ii 
Thanks 
Re: I keep thinkin' about something Marc said... 
Re: What I think I am trying to say is 
Re: there is a medical movement to prevent gay birth 
