The Other Side of the Rainbow
On the Other Side of the Rainbow
A few months ago, I told my mother that I was bisexual. She reacted in a way that I didn't expect, a way in which most people probably wouldn't expect. She questioned it. She didn't yell, or get mad. She didn't say "of course, of course you are" and reciprocate. She questioned it. She questioned my self- proclaimed sexual orientation. And I wasn't happy about it. I wondered what I had done to make her question anything that I said. I was a good and truthful kid, I had just turned 13. Maybe she believed the rumors about teenagers, about how they go bad after a while. People say that they suddenly change, overnight, from sweet little baby to rude,ravenous monster. I wondered if I had done it. Apparently, teenagers, along with denying the change, don't believe that it happens. I think that I am still a good little kid, I just happen to be 13. You know, I wonder sometimes, or at least I used to, how people knew that they were hetero, gay or lesbian, bi or transgendered or questioning or something in between. I never was questioning. I just went straight from what I thought I thought, to what I knew I knew. And it felt great. I was finally able to say things like, "oh, she's cute" without ridicule. Of course, there are still some people who can't accept others as they are. The think that it is alright to just make fun of people who aren't like them. For example, my stepfamily. My stepfather, my stepbrother, and my stepsisters, they are all prejudiced. Against all kinds of people. They are all white, with money, and straight. Three are atheist, one is Christian. And they are all prejudice. One of them, the
Christian one, sye says that it says in the bible that bisexuality, and homosexyality, are sins. That they are blasphemous crimes which must be punished. She says "fag", "faggot", "dyke", "flamer", things like that. On a daily basis. In front of children. Little kids! She inserts it into the conversation as casually as one would say 'grass' or 'cloud'. I have talked to her about her beliefs, but she doesn't know that I am bisexual. I wonder if I will ever tell her. I am not ashamed. I am not embarrassed. I don't mind if she finds oyt, or hates me, or refuses to speak to me, or lectures me on how it is wrong. I will simply tell her that that is how I feel, and I do not plan to change. Also, this is a message to anyone who is reading. Don't throw away your life by insultinig others, or not accepting them as they are. Take them at face value. I don't mean, be superficial and only look at looks. I mean, when someone tells you that they are gay or lesbian, jewish or buddhist, black or native american-== don't hate them. don't hold it against them. they can't help the way that they feel anymore than any of us can. And thank you for reading my story.
