GenQ - For the not so straight individual

Midsumma celebrates who we are as a GLBT community, diversity and all. We're nothing if not diverse. In attendance at the opening party were so many differing groups of queer: the twink, the butch dyke, the leathermen, the lipstick lezzos, the bears, the trannies, the drag queens and kings, you name it ? we've got it. That's awesome ? that diversity and the acceptance of one another is what we should concentrate on at events like Midsumma. We should get together, as an accepting whole, and help prove to the rest of the world that we should be accepted. So why is it that when you look around, you see the young twinks in a group, sneering at the older men; the lipsticks glaring at the butches; the leather-clad men sneering at the twinks; hell, the twinks sneering at other twinks in their group and making fun of what each other is wearing? If we can't accept each other, why should the ?straight? world?

I feel like I'm stuck in some alternate Mean Girls world. Hey, it's a lame movie (that's why I love it!) but it has the right idea. If girls call each other sluts and bitches, why should they expect the greater world around them to keep away from those terms? If the young gays can't walk past the older men without muttering some slur under their breath, why should we expect to be accepted and taken seriously by those outside the GLBT community?

Midsumma is the perfect opportunity for us as a whole to start that first step. We need to be passionate and accepting. We need to be understanding and supportive. We need to look past the drinking and the flirting and the chance to have a couple hours fun, and also see that Midsumma could be used to really further acceptance in our world. Let's hope by Pride March that we'll get it.

Just take a second to think about this. What can you do? Well, drop the judgemental act for a chance and give everyone a chance, for starters. I'm not saying we need to start a big love-in, but we can respect one another and accept that we are indeed diverse. It is through that diversity that we are unique, amazing, and growing. Show the world that we're not all just self-serving, stuck up queens. Show kids that they can come out without being shunned by their families and their friends. Show each other that we're worth it.