Generation Queer by Bob Paris

Author:Bob Paris [PARIS, BOB]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780446566049
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

AFTERWORD

When we are queer it sometimes seems as if the heavens have dealt us the most terrible hand. The entropic, pulling-downward nature of the universe dares us to stand up in the face of such an overwhelming curse. But if we have courage we challenge gravity, we push up against the weight of unquestioned submission to lies and false myths. We claim our place among the gifted. We are the gifted. We all are.

In the end, even when I still acknowledge my own ongoing struggle with the curse/gift seesaw, I know that when God made me gay, He gave me a mission of soul work, an advanced class in getting to the heart of the matter. My own individual calling—to be true to my own nature—has led me here, along a road cut out of densely forested wilderness by rugged pioneers. I give thanks for the work of pioneers, those women and men who kept on taking everything society could dish out, and who in one way or another kept turning their other cheek. Blessed souls preceded us. Blessed souls come after us.

We must continue on, doing our best to counteract the negative forces of fear and anger and cynicism. We must—each one of us—turn with even greater heart, even fuller spirit toward creating a loving planet, a loving nation, a loving neighborhood, a loving home. We must stare bigotry down, make it blink, through full commitment to justice for everyone.

I work each day to reject the barrage of messages coming at me that tempt me to be turned on by tribalism, separation, scandal, other’s misery. I pray for strength to fight against this gravity, to go deeper and stretch higher. I look at my reflection in the mirror and see, where once a fragile boy stood, a man who loves his queer self, who wants others—gay or not—to also love their queer selves. And that is what I’ve learned.

After so many years as an activist, I have realized and put into practice the fact that activism’s number one goal should always be a healing of the deepest, highest self. There is no peace or justice in a world ruled by self-loathing. Many balk at New-Agey terms, such as self-love; some cynics will call it narcissism, but nothing could be further from the truth. Self-love is what will heal our world.

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