Thanks for your thoughtful response, Anthony, though it is completely out of context of this post and another discussion altogether. In the context of this post, there is no "them" here. We all have the right to invite others in by sharing parts of ourselves that are sacred. I knew at a young age who I was... not everyone does. I did not feel safe at that time (1970's) to be public about it, even with those closest to me. Not until I was of legal age, and even then it was a huge risk to be authentic publicly. We all have something... that's all I'm saying here. You took it in a whole other political direction which was not my intention with this piece. I apologize if this topic triggered you. It was merely a reflection and a call to action to ALL of us, regardless of self-identity, to be a bit more compassionate with one another, and to be worthy of ANYONE'S invitation in.
Thanks for your thoughtful response, Anthony, though it is completely out of context of this post and another discussion altogether. In the context of this post, there is no "them" here. We all have the right to invite others in by sharing parts of ourselves that are sacred. I knew at a young age who I was... not everyone does. I did not feel safe at that time (1970's) to be public about it, even with those closest to me. Not until I was of legal age, and even then it was a huge risk to be authentic publicly. We all have something... that's all I'm saying here. You took it in a whole other political direction which was not my intention with this piece. I apologize if this topic triggered you. It was merely a reflection and a call to action to ALL of us, regardless of self-identity, to be a bit more compassionate with one another, and to be worthy of ANYONE'S invitation in.