Sunday, June 25, 2006
Celebrating a Sin (?)
The seven deadly sins, some say, encompas human acts that could send them diretly to Hell (or Purgatory or cause them to be reincarnated as a house fly). Envy, Sloth, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Vengence; and the one which I shamelessly celebrate this weekend, Pride.
The irony here being that people have to be proud. Proud of who they are and what they do, or they can be devoured by their own self-loathing. Being a Proud member of a sexual minority group in today's society means embracing all aspects of your life as parts of a greater whole. I wouldn't really be Matt Scott if I denied my homosexuality. I'm not really Matt Scott when I censor or hide my attraction to men. Isn't that a bigger sin? Lying?
I'm spending this weekend at the Pride of all Pride's - in New York City. Slowly, over the past three days, the buzz has been growing. More and more rainbow flags have gone up. People are dressing a little flashier. People are more likely to say 'hi' to a stranger on the sidewalk. People are using a formally declared weekend to truly be themselves.
Unfortunately it is society outside of our own (global) community that causes us to "tone it down" the other 362 days of the year. It's still a fight. Not about gay marriage, or adoption rights or even the ability to show affection to a member of the same sex in public, but an internal fight to get everyone to be 100% themselves. If we would all stop censoring and start using our collective power to CAUSE the change that we cry out for during this weekend, I don't think Pride would be considered a sin anymore.
The irony here being that people have to be proud. Proud of who they are and what they do, or they can be devoured by their own self-loathing. Being a Proud member of a sexual minority group in today's society means embracing all aspects of your life as parts of a greater whole. I wouldn't really be Matt Scott if I denied my homosexuality. I'm not really Matt Scott when I censor or hide my attraction to men. Isn't that a bigger sin? Lying?
I'm spending this weekend at the Pride of all Pride's - in New York City. Slowly, over the past three days, the buzz has been growing. More and more rainbow flags have gone up. People are dressing a little flashier. People are more likely to say 'hi' to a stranger on the sidewalk. People are using a formally declared weekend to truly be themselves.
Unfortunately it is society outside of our own (global) community that causes us to "tone it down" the other 362 days of the year. It's still a fight. Not about gay marriage, or adoption rights or even the ability to show affection to a member of the same sex in public, but an internal fight to get everyone to be 100% themselves. If we would all stop censoring and start using our collective power to CAUSE the change that we cry out for during this weekend, I don't think Pride would be considered a sin anymore.
// posted by ProudJock Matt @ 10:35 AM 
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