MINE TOO! :D :xoxo:

Very nice post. :)

ys pls tell me there is an end :thumbsup:

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

I don't want to let my imagination run TOO wild! I watched Black Christmas today! :eek: :eek: :eek:

I wish I was one, cause I'd have a lot more money. In fact, that would be utilizing one of my best skills. :cool: If I could have stepped over the "line", I'd be a rich woman.
BTW, apropos of only this post, did you guys know there is a strip club in SF that is UNIONIZED??? (It's the Lusty Lady. I used to work around the block, and watch the people going in on their lunch hour. :laugh: )
how much does that rock?
mkay.

What was it before? :laugh:

Spanks, Hill. I was actually inspired by you, because you are so nice, and respectful, but even you had...uh..."things to express" about the whole sitch, if you know what I mean. :xoxo:

amber on the block
thats funny :cool:

He's pissed me off in the past, and has angered me with comments that he's made that are hurtful (at least to those who haven't developed a thick skin yet).

But, wow, what's he supposed to do in order to be forgiven? He's decided to be honest about his sexual orientation, he's apologized for things he's said that were hurtful, he's admitted that he's confused by the confliction between what he was raised to believe and what he feels in his heart... to me, he sounds like a guy who, while he's made mistakes in the past, is trying to fix that.

Again, if we don't offer someone a little compassion, then we're no better than the people who want to keep us down. :shrug:

Alright now Fancy!

"...Then I got me a georgia mansion
In an elegant new york townhouse flat
And I ain’t done bad...(BACKGROUND SINGERS....NO SHE AIN'T DONE BAD!)"

Pffffffft. My Michael Brown joke from the other night is my personal favorite. I cracked myself up with that one. Actually, I'm laughing about it now.

ok... its time to stepoff the gay gay gay merryground anyways...
im sleepys :cool:
g'nite all!
:wavey:

Maybe that's the thing... I underestimated the fact that some people just might not be ready to forgive him for his comments.

He sure seems to be trying though... folks could at least meet him halfway on that, rather than being inflexible.

You are defending me and I like it! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I really don't deserve it though...

:xoxo: :xoxo: :xoxo:

I've actually had quite a few of them... I enjoy them best when you don't rest on your laurels. ;)

He hasn't rescinded his views, why would people not question him? Unless you are just talking about his gay views. He has rescinded those, but only like, 2 days ago. You have to give people time for discussion and closure. Like, for Hillary, and Towie, and whoever.
This all just happened days ago. And before, he insulted many. And besides that, he is still arguing for repub views. :shrug: It's fine for people to discuss their differences, and I think that even the people who are taking issue with what he says (about gay things, not politically) have been astonishingly polite.
But he is still fair game, politically. Just because he is gay now, doesn't make him any more logical or educated.
If you read back, can you honestly say that people were taking him to task for his gayness, rather than his political beliefs coupled with his gayness? I think not. :wavey:
And I think folks ARE meeting him halfway. As in "it's great that you're gay, but what about this political belief?" Again, no one has reviled him because he said he was gay. It was those other things. In short, and in light of his past comments, I think the people have been MORE THAN meeting him halfway.

You're welcome, Brandon.
I'm a big enough man to bury the hatchet (there's a double entendre in there somewhere ;) ), and I can tell that you're sincerely trying to make amends.

[QUOTE=ryan8472]There are a few around here that deserve that resplendent title more than me. :pQUOTE]


Wow...somebody's been studying his SAT hot words!:laugh:


Brad

OHH yes I caught that! I do love double entendres! :laugh:

I hope I am coming across as sincere and honest! That's all I can ask for :)

You know, Amber, if he'd been out of the closet for a while and still possessed the political views that he has, then I would question him and challenge him. There was an interesting guy on Burnish.net, in his 40s I believe, gay, and a diehard Republican, and he and I debated on several occasions what I will always feel to be the illogical contradiction of being gay and Republican.

But the difference was that this gentleman was secure in his sexuality and had fully formed opinions based on decades of experience. Brandon's not in that position.

So, yeah, I think with Brandon's admission that he's gay and his statement that he's trying to reconcile what he was raised to believe, it's a little unfair to automatically start challenging him to explain and defend himself.

I think we should give the guy some room, without trying to make him take one side or the other right out of the gate.

That's a good point, Stew.
Conversely, though, I'm sure you are logical enough to understand that in the first few days, some people may have some issues to resolve with him. It's just human nature. This is the initial phase, i think many were curious. And some were just still challenging him on his political beliefs.(Diss, Towie, Miscellaneous). And also, many who were previously challenging him on his political beliefs were now being very supportive and kind to him (Strand, Hilly, Diss)
So, I guess my point is that what is happening now is perfectly understandable. I assume you acknowledge that he has not yet changed his political beliefs? :shrug: And also that people in the thread have been very compassionate?
It's like, If i was suddenly gay, people would still remember when I was once an asshole.

Boy, what an extremely odd day!

I'm going to bed...

I totally missed out on Halloween...:( :laugh:

Goodnight all...:wavey:

A lot of people... the majority of people, in fact... were very sweet to him, and I thought dissention's comments were the sweetest of all, considering their somewhat adversarial relationship.

I just felt like maybe he should have some breathing room from having to reconcile his sexual orientation and his political beliefs not only in his own mind but to us as well.

Like I said, I was feeling protective of him, because of my own first-hand experiences (and those of more than one friend) with trying to make sense of the confliction between what some of us are raised to believe and what we feel in our hearts.

You are going to have to stop!!! :laugh: You are TOO GOOD!

I <3 you for all of this! THANKS! :D :thumbsup:


OK! NOW I am going to bed...night!

Good night!

You are right about breathing room, but he seems not to want it so much just now. He seems to want to talk. And I think many people have been helping with that. But still. Perhaps that is a good point. I have never been gay. :shrug:
Except that one time in Highschool when my mom asked me if I was a lesbian - because I didn't have a BF...:shocked:
Awkward. :laugh:
I appreciate your compassion gleaned from your own experiences. You may have something extra to offer, too, because you are Catholic.
But still, member when he was an ass? right in this thread??:laugh:
Yes, yes, Dissention is very sweet. :p To Brn Eyes.
You know if he continues to make political statements in the same vein as he has, that there will be arguments, though. :shrug: But I think now we both agree, as far as just the gay thing goes, people have been pretty supportive.
"pretty supportive" :rolleyes:
God, is there a "gayer" place to come out??!?!? I would doubt it! :laugh: You practically get a VIP pass to....something...if you are gay here...

Wild thread.The gay conservative republican thing has always bothered me too.I couldn't be in a relationship with one .but I have one as a friend which would have been unthinkable to me when I was younger and so very idealistic .I'm ashamed to admit when I was in my early 20s I even got into a couple bar room fights with gay repubs down in San Diego where I went to college ,arguing over politics. (Those few on here that have seen me in person can imagine who won) I'm not a left winger because I'm gay .It is just an entire set of ideas of how people should treat each other that causes me to believe this way so I can now find the space to allow others to have their beliefs as well just so long as I'm not sharing a bed with them.:)

Hm, I dunno what exactly I said because I can be pretty vague sometimes ;)
Maybe it's more a 'bi' thing, I think. I guess bisexuality is a bit like atheism to me: you fall under the bisexual label because you're not straight or gay, because you don't fit under the usual labels. Just like atheism as a concept/label only exists because there is 'theism'.
Nobody would bother to call themselves atheist if religion didn't exist, you know? But it does, as does exist the norm of heterosexuality. Therefore you're forced to give yourself the label by the norms of society.
Uh, does that make sense?

I completely understand the desire to belong with a group, I know those feelings too, but it's a lot less important to me than it was 7 years ago when I first recognised/acknowledged my own bi feelings. Maybe because you grow more comfortable with who you are, then it becomes less important.sigh. I need a date.
Another difference is the attitude of some gay people towards bisexuals. I tried, but didn't always feel part of that community. I don't know that many bisexuals, so I guess I'm my own 'community' because of it.
I know the situation in this country is different, most people I know have some prejudices about homo/bisexuality but when they know you are, they're pretty relaxed about it.

err, end rant. take care, all.

Apparently. :laugh:

Boring. Except for the Friendlies adventure....

I went to Friendlies with Brad and four other of our friends. To screw around with the waitress, we all ordered things not on the menu. :rolleyes: :laugh: Of course, I ordered the Spotted Dick. :p So, later in the evening, she brought me out a bananna covered in hot fudge and M&M's. And I just about died. :laugh: That was my excitement for the weekend.

No, it doesn't make you pathetic. It just means that to a large extent you've just been a kid trying to figure out who you are and where you stand and what you believe in life. Everybody likes to feel that they're part of a community, and almost everybody at one time or another likes the simplicity of being able to just assign a label to oneself. Some people don't outgrow that until they're in their 40s or 50s. Some people never outgrow it. So be proud of yourself that you're becoming aware of it when you're so young and have so much time to figure out who you really are. (I'm not sure why I'm talking to you like I'm so much older than you.)

Bingo! See, you've already got that much figured out, which means you're halfway there.

Well, no, you don't have to do that. I hope you do continue to care about politics. But I also hope you start to think for yourself and figure out what you truly believe about politics, instead of just toeing the Republican party line and parroting everything Ann Coulter says.

Oh, if only that were always true.

Thanks for explaining all of that. I would say that the different countries thing contributed to the different ways we look at things, but I suspect that it's the fact that you're more comfortable in who you are than I am more than anything else. You're a little bit older than I am, too...so maybe one of these days I'll find myself relating to what you're saying more.

Amber and Brian, I see both of your points. Really. You expressed yourselves really well last night (well, it was like the wee small hours of the morning, right? :laugh: ) and I just wanted to say that I see where you're both coming from. I think that between the two of you, everything was taken into account. I can't offer any more meaningful commentary (assuming that that was meaningful) because man, I stayed up way too late reading this thread and damn I'm tired! :laugh:

I hope you will :xoxo:
I know it can feel like hell when it's still fresh. Ugh, that lasted a couple of years for me, actually. So much insecurity and soulsearching.
About different countries, different attitudes? When I first started coming out to various people, I lost a few online friends, all American, I'm sorry to say. Oh well, their loss :p

Heck, maybe he still is! There tons of masturbatory literary critics who like to pontificate on if Shakespeare was really Shakespeare and who Shakespeare really was. Maybe he's really Nicholas Sparks.

That is such a shame. :distress:

:eek: :eek: :eek: Ahhhhhhhhhh...stop!!!! That hurts!!! :eek: :eek:

yeah.. made me think I must've done something wrong! I guess part of it was them feeling 'betrayed' somehow. I guess they couldn't/wouldn't understand what happens to you when you have a samesex crush for the first time. How confusing that is. A lot of people seem to think that if you're gay/bi, you know this from when you're born, when for a lot of people (that I know, anyway) it's a gradual discovery that can take a long time.

Curtis? I love you. :xoxo: