A little LGBT courage!

"Courage sometimes skips a generation."

(From 'The Help'; Charlotte Phelan to her daughter, Skeeter)

Is it wrong to want to achieve something great in life? Is that a kind of arrogance? I don't mean it to be! I just want to leave a purposeful legacy. And a simple one. I want to be remembered for great love. I want my grave marker to simply and rightly read (many years from now!), "He meant well." And I do!

Beyond that, I specifically want to be remembered as someone whose love cost me something. It requires me to use my heart, my life, my voice, my energy, my time, my resources, my reputation to make life better for others, especially LGBT+ people.

There are six words that guide me in this each day: "Defend the oppressed" and "Love your neighbor." Even if you don't care about the biblical context, I think common decency and basic humanity speak plainly to these themes. And we all know that gay people have endured too much, even suffered too much. Needlessly. I see it in the eyes of my gay friends. I'm reminded of it each year during the reading of names during Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremonies. I know it from the news -- where I read, hear, see stories of young gay people who can't endure the pain and who take their own lives. We should be sad that we live in a world where people blithely read the stories and soon forget the names. I'm certainly more forgetful than I should be. (Do you remember Leelah Alcorn?)

I met someone just the other day who has four friends recently diagnosed with HIV. You can appreciate the sadness in her eyes as she very simply shared that information with me. It was, rightly, a sacred moment. I wanted to whisper some kind of reply; all I could do was hug her and whisper, "I'm so sorry." And yet, I have other friends who aren't moved by that kind of knowledge, who feel "they got what they deserved." I have tears for their heartlessness, as well as my new friend's deep pain on behalf of people she loves.

What difference can one little guy really make? I'm glad that I'm idealistic enough to believe that one, single, lone life dedicated to loving kindness can make an immense difference in the world! Even if it's loving only one person, just one life at a time. Because that one life is a link in the broken chain of humanity! I think of the people who've decided to love and lift and inspire and encourage me! They gave me joyful energy to pass on to someone else along the way...and that's an awfully good feeling! To bring even a moment of joy -- just a smile! -- to another man, woman, boy, or girl is pure privilege. And sometimes that alone is enough.

So, back to courage not skipping me and my generation! It requires grit and determination. Sometimes it requires bravery and stepping out of my tiny, little comfort zone. Sometimes it requires me to speak and act when I'd prefer to be silent and walk away. I hope you find me faithful in this. I hope I can live up to my own dreams and ideals! I guess the best I can offer you is the promise to try my best...and I mean it.

And so, here's another moment of dedication! I pledge myself to being useful in my little corner of my little world, using my little life for anyone who needs me -- especially my LGBT neighbors! A word. A smile. A hug. Even just being there. I thank God for the people I cross paths with each day because they're a chance for me to love. Here I go! On the lookout for opportunities to love. You, too?

Love, Steve xo...p.s. Ask the next person you meet to hug you for me, until I get to do it myself! :-) xo