I LOVE the Gays!

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." Mother Teresa

I don't know if I've ever seen words that were more true than these! It seems that there is so much judgement being passed around these days. People are judged on the clothes they wear, the car they drive, the job they have, the music they listen to, and everything else in their lives. People don't take time to get to know someone before they decided if they are even going to like them.

For example, right now I am in a play/musical that the university I work and go to school at is putting on. It is called "The Rocky Horror Show." I'm sure some of you have heard about it. Well, this past Friday night, myself and about 4 other cast members put on our costumes and went downtown Alexandria to hand out flyers at the "Art Walk" that was going on. I was working at one particular exhibit while the others were walking around. Close to the end of the night, a lady came to the exhibit I was working at. She looked at me and said "Oh you must be in Rocky, too." I told her I was and she proceeded to tell me how she had run into the other cast members earlier. "When I first saw them I was like, oh my, Goth People. I tired to avoid them, but they started talking to me. I was surprised that they were all really nice, then they told me they were in Rocky and I knew why they were dressed the way they were." (our costumes are very Gothic Lolita based designs, and they are HOTT!!!)

Now, what the lady didn't know was the people she had seen really are Gothic people, so what they were wearing is something you would find them in almost everyday! They were the first ones to have their costumes figured out because their closet was full of clothes that would work. I kind of wanted to tell her that, but I was frustrated with the entire conversation. She thought that because they looked Gothic, they were going to be mean people, when if fact, these three people were some of the sweetest people I've ever been privileged to know.

Then there are people who are judged for their sexual orientation. Let me be perfectly clear on this subject. My uncle was gay and passed away in 1990 from complications due to AIDS. I grew up with my mom working at the local AIDS Organization, Central Louisiana AIDS Support Services (better known as CLASS). A lot of her clients were gay, and so were a lot of her volunteers. Therefore, I grew up around homosexuals. Some of my VERY best friends are gay and lesbian, and they are also some of the most loyal friends I have ever had. I am a "Grace" (as in Will and Grace) or what people commonly refer to as a "fag hag" and I am DAMN proud of it! But when I see people being judged because of who they chose to love, it makes me sick! People don't take the time to get to know them, they just know they are gay, so they must be bad people, right? Wrong!

I'm judged everyday for being "fat". I'm fat so therefore I must be lazy and do nothing but eat and sit on the couch all day long, right? WRONG! I have been a big girl since as long as I can remember. I have Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) which means I have to eat every three hours. Is that an excuse, no, but does it help in my being over weight, yes! I also have Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome, commonly known as PCOS, which messes around with my hormones, making it harder to lose weight, and easier to gain it. I try to walk everyday, and I eat WAY more veggies than junk. I'm comfortable with who I am, but other people judge me before they even get to know me. This is not right people.

Now I am not trying to say that I don't judge people. Trust me, I am not perfect, no one is! I do try very hard to get to know someone before I decide if I like them or not. Doesn't mean I always do. In fact, I will put it out there right now, if you EVER see me judging someone I don't know, call me out on it.

So, let me leave you with one last thing. Before you judge that person next to you wearing all black, or with a rainbow bracelet on, or who is overweight, take a moment and try to imagine what their life is like before you decide if you like them or not. By having an open mind, you might just meet the most loyal friend you could ask for.