Lovin' on Lisa Ling

This is me in preschool. When I think about my personality back then, I can see how it is still reflected now in my 33-year-old body. I am still silly, creative, scared of odd things, and filled with an imagination that can build me up or take me down in one fell swoop. And I'm straight. I knew it then, and I know it now. Even at this tender age, I had crushes on the little boys in my preschool class.

I find it amazing that people consider being gay a "choice" because I KNEW when I was a little girl that I was straight. I didn't know what it was called. I didn't know the big words "heterosexual" or "homosexual." I didn't understand where babies came from or why my parents were married (for a while, I somehow thought they were relatives and everyone married relatives). But I knew that I was fascinated by the opposite sex. I wanted to play with girls, but I wanted to sneak peeks at boys. I wanted their attention in a way I couldn't understand. Well, sometimes I still don't understand that aspect of myself.

Anyway, last night I watched "Our America with Lisa Ling." The episode was called "Pray the Gay Away?" and it focused on whether or not you can be a Christian and be gay. Personally, I feel that yes, you can. But many people don't feel that way, so I was very interested to hear their philosophies and try to understand their way of thinking.

I've been blown away so far by Lisa Ling's series. She's showed me faith healers, transgenders, people who are on the sex offender list, and now gay Christians. She's on a mission to find topics that people feel strongly about and show both sides. I admire her journalistic skills. She is casual, honest, raw, and powerful. Not the stuffed shirts of my childhood. She is modern, hip journalism. I love her.

So I watched the show and was about ready to go to bed when I realized there was an aftershow going on. I hit record and got ready for bed. I left the TV on, so I heard Lisa say this at the beginning of the show:

"I've been wanting to do a show about this for a long time because some of the dearest people in my life are gay. And they're people who've been condemned by their church and their family. And over the last couple of years--I'm not a religious person--but I've started to learn about Jesus, and I actually fell in love with Jesus because he was this man who just espoused this unconditional love, and I found that the message that the church was 'spewing' with regard to homosexuality and what I was learning about this man Jesus seemed incongruent... So the objective with this show was to understand why people believe what they believe."

Well said, Lisa. I agree that hatred of self or others is incongruent with the teachings of Jesus. It's so refreshing to hear someone speak their opinion on the matter in such an eloquent way--without yelling it or painting it on the side of a barn or something.

Then this morning, I was surfing the Internet when I came across an article on CNN called "Website for those born this way." It was about a site called "Born This Way" that has small articles and photographs of people who were born LGBT. I read 30 or entries and enjoyed each one. Personally, I believe people are born gay. Like I said before, I was born straight and I just "knew it." I can't explain it, and neither can LGBT people. Reading their stories made me smile, frown, and giggle at some of the photos. So I decided to put up my childhood photo in their honor. There I was, straight as can be. And my childhood was not sunshine and roses, either. Ah, life.

I highly encourage you to watch all of the "Our America" episodes. They are SO well done, and they make for great conversation starters. I asked my parents to record some of the episodes so we can chat about them together. And even though both of my parents are mature (old) seniors and are (hardcore) Lutherans and I am a (crazy liberal) young, non-religious (and feisty about it sometimes) woman, we've been able to discuss some of the shows in a really interesting way, and I know it will be the same with this one. As we all collectively age, we are able to better respect and understand each other. I have not always been very good at explaining my feelings about things in a "mature" or not "on a soapbox" kind of way. I am very thankful to Lisa Ling for doing it for me. In a strange way, it's helping my parents and I to grow closer together. I'm learning how to speak in a new language--a thoughtful one.