POZitive Attitudes

In September, 4 Gay teenagers committed suicide. Last week at the Wednesday night group, we discussed that those teenagers didn’t committ suicide because they were Gay, but because they felt other people wouldn’t, couldn’t or didn’t accept them because of that. Many of us shared our own expereinces and fears of coming out and the reactions other people would have. The question was raised, how can we accept our HIV-status if we still can’t fully accept our homosexuality. The psychological aspects of learning to accept being both Gay and HIV Positive may take on an added dimension in people who were infected with HIV sexually.

October didn’t bring any better news. In New York, eight gang members were arrested in the torture of two teenage boys and a man in an anti-gay attack. The victims were burned, beat, tortured for hours and sodomized with baseball bats and the wooden handle of a plunger.

Some of our leaders still just don’t get it. A week AFTER those attacks, in New York, where those attacks took place, the NY Republican candidate for Governor, Carl Paladino was still making anti-Gay remarks; “I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option – it isn’t” His written address went even furthur “There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual” and being homosexual “is not how God created us.”

Personally, I didn’t choose to be Gay anymore than I chose my race or ancestory.

When politicians hold these beliefs is it any wonder that gang members feel it’s ok to burn, beat torture and sodomize people they feel are threats. They’re just doing physically what Carl Paladino was doing verbally. They’re marginalizing homosexuals. They’re marginalizing us, you and I. I guarantee you that if those gang members were upset with those teenager for being Gay, they would have less sympathy for us being Gay and HIV Positive. And I guarantee you that as Governor, Carl Paladino will have no sympathy.

I suspect that we will continue to hear stories like this next month and the month after that. But there is a difference today. Today is Coming out day and there is going to be a candelight vigil. The Pride Center and Sunshine Cathedral are co-sponsoring this event. Today is your opportunity to stand up in a dignified manner and denounce those gang members and the political thought that we, you and I, are not dysfunctional homosexuals. We don’t accept being marginalized and most importantly we accept and embrace ourselves, just as we are.

If you’re angry, about the suicides, about the beatings and about those political ideas, then join me and The Group at the Sunshine Cathedral on 1480 SW 9th Ave at 7:30 PM tonight.

-Steve

On Monday, Paladino soften, yet reaffirmed his position. Asked about the “brainwashed” remark, he said that comment had “to do with schooling children. My feelings on homosexuality are unequivocal. I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. My only reservation is marriage.”

And yet he went on to say that “children should not be exposed to that at a young age. They don’t understand this. It’s a very difficult thing. And exposing them to homosexuality, especially at a Gay Pride parade, and I don’t know if you’ve ever been to one, but they wear these little Speedos and they grind against each other. It’s just a terrible thing.”

So is it just marriage you’re opposed to or the fact that homosexuals have Gay Pride parades that might expose children? Make up your mind.

“Mr. Paladino’s statement displays a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality,” Vlasto said in a statement. “These comments along with other views he has espoused make it clear that he is way out of the mainstream and is unfit to represent New York.”

Caputo disagreed. “The majority of New Yorkers agree with him,” he said of Paladino’s views on homosexuals and gay rights.

Polls have shown 58 percent of New Yorkers favor gay marriage, which Paladino says he opposes. Polls have also shown Cuomo expanding his lead on Paladino after the gap had closed last month to six points.

Paladino’s own personal life has been an issue in the campaign. He has raised charges about Cuomo’s sex life that he now admits are unsubstantiated, while Paladino is married but has a 10-year-old daughter from an affair with a former employee of his. He has also admitted to sending out obscene and racist e-mails.

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