Yet you know me not
You try to stab at my heart
Yet you have never met me
You would laugh to see disease devour the flesh from my body
Yet I am your neighbor, your brother, your son
Your bigotry
and hatred is focussed and unchallenged
Your shallow
and closed mind is so blind
You do not see
that I am a human male, with a job, with friends, with a life
Just like you
You do not know
that I have children in my life
Nieces and nephews
who adore me
Play with me,
shower me with kisses
Fight over who
gets to ride on my shoulders on a trip for ice cream
You forgot to
ask if I have siblings who still treat me like I am twelve
Always their
little brother
Always their
best friend
You neglected
to discover I have a father who takes me on father/son hikes
Or a long day
on the lake, in the canoe, fishing and talking about life
And a
mother who worries if I will meet the right man, have a good job, own a
beautiful home
Why did you not
learn these things
Because your
first discovery was that I am Gay
Gay: defined
by you as less than human
Not worthy of
respect and dignity
Created to be
despised
But I do not
hold the same hatred in return
For gay also
means happy
And I am happy
I met you
You have reminded
me that those I choose to keep in my inner circle
Are truly held
as friends
Genuinely kind
Worthy to be
called human
