Not all friendships are meant to be. The best you can do is be yourself, keep your expectations low.-Judge John Hodgman

I saw this very recently and it really, really stuck with me:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/magazine/judge-john-hodgman-on-forced-friendships.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fjudge-john-hodgman&action=click&contentCollection=magazine&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=collection


I will always like the people I like and I also (I would like to think) will always like people, in general. But to hope for a friendship that is just never ever going to happen or is only going to come from some kind of cluelessness that results in an awkward and unintentionally forced friendship...well, that is just asking for a lot of heartache and putting someone you really care about in a very uncomfortable position.

 

This cover is so absurd you just might laugh, unless, of course you are a lesbian and you are old enough to remember when this attitude was very common or you know people who still believe things like this. I have done everything I know how to do to "not" be gay and it just does not work. I have tried praying it away, I have tried steeling my heart against any and all emotional or romantic feelings, I have always been and most likely always will be celibate. 

None of that makes a difference nor does it (as far as I am concerned) make me any less gay that I am not a 'practicing' one...as the far right Christians like to say when referencing the kind of gay people they believe go to Hell.

I cannot keep people who believe gays and lesbians are 'evil' or 'sinful' from thinking that just as they cannot keep me from being who I am, no matter how much they may believe in 'ex-gay' therapy. In an ideal world I would be thrilled if anti-gay Christians could at least grasp that being gay is about far, far. far more than sex and that it really is so that love is love. I just do not think they will ever understand that.

It absolutely breaks my heart when those who are constantly subjected to horrific attitudes and hateful comments from homophobic people in their lives end up hurting themselves in some way or, worse, ends their lives. It seems to me that people who engage in any kind of homophobia (especially the hateful kind) should not get to judge or be surprised when their words and actions are such a huge contributor to tragedy.

Recently, a study was released that stated suicide rates among gay youth went down when gay marriage became legal. Many on the far right debated this or expressed incredulity or even said the study was falsified; thing is I firmly believe this and completely understand that this could definitely be the case. When I was younger and thought about harming myself it would have made a huge difference if I had been living in a time when being gay was not considered 'sick' or 'sinful.' 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/health/teen-suicide-same-sex-marriage-study-trnd/