U.M. See! Pt. 2

How do I feel about how Jesus feels about LGBTQIA? I think Jesus is about non-exclusion, to use a double negative! He loves EVERYBODY, and wants us to tolerate and include EVERYBODY! Nowhere in the Bible does he say, “Don’t accept homosexuals or transgender or anybody whose sexuality is different from yours or whose sexuality makes you feel uncomfortable”! He does say, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He does show himself, time and again, bringing in the outcast, including the lepers, the prostitutes, the dirty (in terms of Jewish law). He tells his disciples to bring the little children to him–there was an oppressed group of people, especially in his day and age. Some things haven’t gotten much better for some children today.

But let me tell you a little bit about my own experiences:  I grew up in a time and place when homosexuality wasn’t very prevalent, transgender was totally unheard of, and all the other specifications that are with us today, I still have yet to decipher myself! My twin sister took violin lessons from Michel Gibson (such a great name), in Appleton. He lived with a man, which, at the time, I thought nothing of. But my mom explained, probably when I was in eighth grade or so–and she was kind of embarrassed about it–that Mr. Gibson and his roommate were homosexuals. That is, a man loved another man instead of a woman.

Skip forward to my college years, when I was hospitalized several times for Bipolar. One of the times, I was the roommate of a woman who explained that she was “trying out” a lesbian relationship. She and I grew very close. She was an intense person, and loved to protect me. After a while, she told me that she told her partner she thought she was in love with me. This didn’t shock me or make me feel bad. In fact, I was honored to be the object of such strong and wonderful feelings. My mother was chagrined. And, looking back on it now, I wonder if a graduate school friend of my mom’s didn’t tell her the same thing at some point.

I’ve always appreciated the female body. The curves, the ins, the outs. Taking Life Drawing was wonderful in college. Over time, I’ve learned that I am bisexual. Probably a little more heterosexual than homosexual, on the spectrum line of homo to hetero.

But, given the right circumstances, I could see myself getting into a lesbian relationship. However, right now, I am in a committed relationship, and have been for almost 21 years! So, the question is moot. The important thing is that I would be open to a homosexual relationship, under the right circumstances.

I have met a few transgender males. I don’t feel like I can judge them for who they are. They’re probably so glad to be living a life that’s more true to who they feel they are inside.

My niece has been explaining that she feels she is some form of asexual. Like I said, there are many aspects of LGBTQIA that I have yet to encounter or understand. Bottom line, Jesus accepts everyone, so why shouldn’t I? Why shouldn’t you?