Sharing Our Stories

It was 1984, a warm spring day.  My friend’s Phillip, Susie, Shelia and I were headed home after a care free day of school.  We couldn’t wait to get home to watch our favorite TV show, You Can’t Do That on Television. Waiting for the green slime to fall.  “You talk like a girl,” Phillip stated to everyone on the school bus.  “I do,” I said.  “Yes, you do,” he said.  It was the first time I became aware; I wasn’t like the other boys.

Of course the signs were all there.  My family loves telling the stories of my peculiar antics as a toddler.  I insisted on wearing the shoes of the women who came through our door.  Eventually, I adopted my mother lipstick red purse to match my temporary heals.  I was thrilled.  My dad, less so.
 

That day on the yellow school bus was the day I changed.   I became self-conscious.  My understanding of my differentness was only dim at first, but as those early years progressed into adolescences, I became increasingly aware:  I wasn’t like the other boys, and yet, I was like the other boys.  Unlike the stories of other gay men, I excelled at sports.  I was athletic.  There existed within me a duality both male and female. 

I was no longer the carefree young man, who entered those sliding doors.  I stepped off the school bus into a world I feared.  A world that told a child he was unworthy of love.  I became aware of the subtle messages from society.  A message shaped by my own faith tradition.  Who you are is “Objectively Disordered.” 

I wish to share with you my own faith journey.  A journey from feeling unworthy of love, into one of love and self acceptance.  As a gay man who belongs to a Roman Catholic Religious Order, I’ve come to know [in spite of it all] that I am beautifully and wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God. And, I am Good. 

So God created human beings in his own image.

In the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

Within me reflects the duality of God; both male and female.  And, I am Good.  It is my hope that we will journey together, share our stories, and allow the God of Love to love us into new life.

This gathering is also meant for our heterosexual brothers and sisters.  We tend to fear the unknown.  They become the other.  It’s human nature.  Our heterosexual brothers and sisters often do not know us.  They experience us as different.  Hopefully, in the sharing of our stories, our stories, will become their stories.  The other will become “Us.” 
 

Peace and all good,
Brother Sun and Sister Moon

Personal Reflection:

When did I first become aware of my “differentness?”  How did I feel?  Feel free to share your story in the comment spaces below.