I'm Gay, and I Support the Right of Small Business Owners to "Refuse Service to Anyone."

When the first utterance of "the religious freedom law" found my ears a few months back, my first thought was hasn't that always been a thing? Hadn't small business always "reserved the right to refuse service to anyone?" It just seemed like something old with a new name. I was dumbfounded.

The recent declaration of a couple of business' utilization of this "law" and claiming their allegiance with a set of beliefs that did not support homosexuality has caused an uproar in the LGBT community and it's allies. While I appreciate the support, I feel it important to remember we cannot use anger to negate anger. We cannot strip someone else of rights and pride in their own lifestyles while screaming equality for ours. So they don't want to serve gays? Okay. Moving on. I appreciate the heads up, I will take my business elsewhere. I will not add fuel to the fire. So what if they don't want to serve me? My future wife is considered a small business owner, and I hope she always possesses the right to refuse service to anyone for whatever reason. I will not focus my energy on "discrimination" or "inequality". I choose to focus my energies on the things I wish to see more of in the world. To do otherwise is counter-productive.

We can co-exist. We as in every single person. No two people have exactly the same set of beliefs. There will always be a disagreement somewhere. It's about acceptance from both sides. You can only keep what you give.

I believe in allowing people freedom to be who they are. If we all did that, hate and discrimination would dissipate as a by-product of choosing a more positive focus. I can admire someone for standing strong in their beliefs. I can respect someone for their honesty. Making it known that your business does not wish to serve any particular race, sexual-orientation, religion, sub-culture, etc is quite courageous, for it is self-limiting in nature. Any breathing person would expect some sort of backlash. You are minimizing your clientele pool and risking your own livelihood. None of which effects me. I have no battle to fight here.

Racism and discrimination will only fade out when we stop reacting to it, looking for it, and opening it up to be fed by the emotions of people. Let it go. Bless it, and keep moving. It's one thing to not hide the fact that your significant other is of the same sex and fight for the ability to marry that person and another to paint your life all shades of rainbow and expect someone to not be thrown off a bit.

So, let's put down our pride flags and our #blacklivesmatter signs. Let's just live our lives to the best of our ability and allow others to do the same. Let each of us see ourselves as equal, and we will be equal. Continue to pursue equality but not be mislead by miscellaneous matters. Let's hold a space of trust that maybe someone has good intentions, and maybe we all have something beautiful to offer to the world.

With Grace & Gratitude...

Feed It

The words seem so far. The rhythm which wrapped and warped and freed my soul seem bumpy. I've spent too long reading too much. Ingesting the opinions of others and allowing my own voice to wither away. Leaving me here in the middle of the night grasping for it not because I'm dying inside, but because I want to breath it in, to pull that intangible piece of spirit into my equally impalpable being. There are so many things in this world I just don't have the knowledge of to formulate an opinion strong enough to argue about. Vaccines; Presidents; Politics, to name a few. Many things I don't understand, and even more things I embrace on feeling alone. Because it simply feels right, at the time.

Do it because it feels right. Do something because you've spent enough time in meditation, in prayer, in stillness, in quiet... in whatever the fuck opens your spirit, your heart .... to know what's right for you, then. Do that. Then move on. Let it go. Keep breathing. Keep moving. Find what speaks to you innermost, honest and pure self. Do you know what that is? Where it is? How to hear that voice?
I've written a couple of articles I thought were almost awesome and submitted them to your local online article distributor, but because I used "you" they felt it separated the reader and the writer, and told me to re-write, re-vise, to change my piece to better fit what they felt would be a better piece.

Needless to say, I haven't gotten published yet.

With Grace & Gratitude...