Gay Men VS. Gay Women

So recently it was brought to my attention that there is a division in the gay community (yes I know there are many but this is the specific one I want to address) and that division is between gay men and gay women. Now most of my friends are gay men so it never occurred to me that gay men and gay women don't like each other. In fact it wasn't until I was chatting with two of my best friends that I realized this. One of my friends is in a gay fraternity at his university and he told me that none of the men in his fraternity like lesbians. I found this to be incredibly shocking and I asked him how he felt about that to which he responded that he too had a distaste for lesbians (except me) as if that makes it better to know that I am the exception to this distaste. When I asked his and his brothers reasons for not liking lesbians I found that apparently there was a short list:
1. Lesbians are drama
2. They think that everyone is trying to steal their girlfriend
I do not remember the rest of the list but I know that I was peeved right after the first one. Whether or not I am included in the lesbians that he doesn't like these reasons for disliking them upset me a great deal. I told him that I thought that gay men had just as much drama as lesbians, to which my other gay friend agreed, and that I thought it was presumptuous to assume that lesbians think everyone is trying to steal their girlfriend, I for one know no one like this.
Now I respect everyone and their opinions, however this got to me, not just because I am a lesbian but also because I believe that this kind of divide, any kind of divide really, in our own community is just stupid. It's not enough that we are discriminated against by others but now we are going to discriminate within our own community? We should be united and supportive of one another because we all understand what each other are going through and we understand that it is hard. This includes bi-sexual people, transgender, drag queens etc. no one should be discriminated against in their own community. The acronym is GLBTQ (and a lot of other letters I don't know off of the top of my head) not just G or L or B. The acronym is united not divided so why cant we be?

Bumper Sticker as a Form of Expression 10/5/11

Hello! So this morning I was thinking I would write about gays and lesbians opposing each other, and then I saw a bumper sticker on my way to school and I thought, well that topic is going to have to wait. The bumper sticker I saw was similar to the one below:

All I could think when I saw this was, what the hell? Ok it is bad enough knowing that as a homosexual there are so many people that oppose the love that you have for someone, simply because they are the same sex as you, that there are laws all across our country banning you from marrying that person, but then it has to be rubbed in as well? It seems petty and cruel, not to mention this is a form of hate speech. I don't need to be reminded of the fact that, unless I uproot my life and move to one of the very few states that supports gay marriage, I will never be able to marry someone that I love. I don't have that right because there are people that think that allowing people of the same sex to get married intrudes on their rights as a straight couple and somehow belittles that "sanctity" of marriage. Indeed I have even heard someone say, in a college class, "well if we let the gays get married then people are going to want to start marrying their dogs." I was shocked when I heard this, the fact that someone actually thought this is outrageous! Homosexual marriage shouldn't be thought to be hand in hand with beastalilty. Homosexuality is between 2 consenting human beings, as human being we deserve the same rights as our fellow humans, whether they be straight or not. All human beings should be allowed the same rights and no one should be able to prohibit rights or be able to display hate speech against their fellow humans on their cars or houses or otherwise. Its just wrong. That is not to say that heterosexuals are the only ones that display such bumper stickers, I have also seen this little number around:

Although this is funny and I get the message that it is trying to get across, its not helping our cause. Yes maybe its funny and makes us feel a little better but it is doing nothing but creating hateful feelings on both sides. Yes they make bumper stickers that say "Ban gay marriage" but do we, homosexuals and allies, want to sink down to their level? I say no because we are better than that. I am not saying not to display bumper stickers to try to support our cause, what I am saying is that those bumper stickers don't need to be hateful. Bumper stickers like this one are ok.

This is just one opinion and you do not have to agree with me. It is simply something to think about.

When will it end?

 Hello and welcome to my blog! This is the first posting on Somewhere Under the Rainbow and I would like to make it a tribute to all the gay youth who have been literally bullied to death, I would especially like to honor this young man who is pictured below:

His name is Jamey Rodemeyer and he was only 14 years old. On September 19th this young man was bullied to death. Everyday he endured bullying for struggling with his sexual orientation. I was outraged when I heard what this poor young man endured in the months before his death. On his formspring, an anonymous forum that allows users to ask questions or make posts to a person anonymously, he was told "JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT AND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!" And also "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier." When I first read these comments I was sickened. Sickened by the fact the anyone would say that to another human being and sickened by the fact that this young man was tormented in such a manner.

No one, and I mean NO ONE deserves to to be told they should die and that no one cares! Its disgusting! These people are disgusting! How could you tell anyone to kill themselves?! It is outrageous! How many more gay teens have to be bullied to death before something is done? How many more people who are questioning their sexuality or gender or anything else have to live in fear before America realizes that there is a problem?! What kind of messages are we as a country delivering to our children that leads them to believe encouraging someone to kill themselves and then making their life hell until they do, is acceptable behavior? How can we as a country just stand around and watch as more and more kids are bullied to their grave because they are different and their peers don't understand them?

So I ask you, when will it end? For any other confused teens who like Jamey feel that there is no other way out I want to say that there is. Watch videos from the it gets better project, talk to your school adviser, seek out help online or elsewhere, there is help everywhere. Jamey I'm sorry no one listened before but we are now, we all are now, like Lady Gaga said in her dedication of Hair to him "Jamey you are a lesson to us all."

Watch this video from Lady Gaga as she tributes Hair to Jamey: