We've all felt the sting of intolerance. Whether it be at school or work or even here in prison. As gay men and women we deal with it on nearly a daily occurance.
A big part of me wants to reach out for help in dealing with the individuals who practice bigotry. But an even bigger part of me realizes that my own personal immediate need is coping with it. I want employers to be intolerant of bigoted employees. To have a zero tolerance policy that is strictly enforced to protect harassment. But while this is being slowly adopted and taken seriously we are suffering damage from the words of those who haven't caught up yet.
Theres a saying that goes "Give a man a fish and he eats for the night. Teach a man to fish and he eats for life."
We as LGBT people are going to run into harsh views for the rest of our lives and we need to know how to cope with that. You can't remove every hater immediately, it takes time. In the mean time we need to be sharing techniques with one another to not internalize the words of others.
I don't mean "Brush it off, don't think about it". That's much to general. I mean specifics. As someone comes to you with situations they are facing they are hoping for solutions. If I come to you and tell you about the jerk who says I can't be a boxer because I'm gay and people will be to afraid to fight me because all gays have AIDS (yeah, that still is a real live belief...), I'm telling you because I need to know how to deal with that. I want your wisdom.
Teach me to fish please...
With Love
Jeff Utnage
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