I believe that each lifetime before we are born we choose our country, our color, our sexuality, and the perfect set of parents to match the patterns we have chosen to work on in this lifetime. Each lifetime I seem to choose a different sexuality. Sometimes I am a man, sometimes I am a woman. Sometimes I am heterosexual, sometimes I am homosexual. Each form of sexuality has its own areas of fulfillment and challenges. Sometimes society approves of my sexuality, and sometimes it does not. Yet at all times, I am me-perfect, whole, and complete. My soul has no sexuality. It is only my personality that has sexuality. I love and cherish every part of my body. I am at peace with my sexuality.
The gay and lesbian communities have the same problems everybody else has, plus much of society pointing their fingers at them and saying, “Bad!” Often their own mothers and fathers are also saying, “You’re bad.” This is a heavy load to carry, and it’s difficult to love yourself under these circumstances. It is not surprising that gay men were among the first to experience AIDS.
No matter what your sexual orientation is, it is perfect for you. When we are referring to relationships, it applies to all of us, no matter if your relationship is heterosexual or homosexual. Even science is now recognizing that sexual orientation is something that we are born with and not something that we choose. If you are heterosexual, imagine what it would feel like if you were told you had to become a lesbian or a gay man. We must not put ourselves or anyone else down for something as simple and natural as sexuality.
I am not trying to create guilt for anyone. However, we need to look at the things that need to be changed in order for all of our lives to function with love and joy and respect. Fifty years ago, almost all gay men were closeted. Now they have been able to create pockets in society where they can at least be relatively open. And many of you may be unaware that in Victorian days, the prevalence of separate worlds (in business, politics, parenting, etc.) for men and women made male-female relations so strained that women commonly turned to other women for their most intimate relationships. Romantic friendships were also common among young middle-class men. No one considered such relationships a sign of homosexuality. In fact, the term wasn’t even invented until the late 19th century.
The point is that love is where we find it. Fashions in love change from country to country and century to century. We have certain so-called norms at the moment, but they, too, will change in time. Let’s drop the judgments and rejoice in love when we see it. This is a time for healing, for making whole, not for condemnation. We must rise out of the limitations of the past. We are all divine, magnificent expressions of life.
