goldenbug
09-28-2008, 08:02 PM
Hi everyone. It has been a long time since I have been on this board. I have looked at it a few times but it has been over a year since I logged in. Much has happened to me in the last year. I left Christian Ministry altogether because I was tired of legalistic closed minded Christianity. I am now pursuing a new career as a Police Officer.
So an interesting thing happened in my pursuit of becoming a police officer. I was asked in my interview, "Describe a time when you were prejudiced against a group or sector of society described in the Canadian Human Rights Code and how you over came that prejudice." Hmmmmmm. Guess what I shared? That's right! About how I once hated gays and lesbians because I felit it was morally and ethically wrong. To the best of my ability, here was my answer to them. Some of it is a little graphic and I hope you all don't mind. However, this is where I came from and I am so glad I am no longer there! Any way, the police department loved my answer!
I was raised by a father who was a homophobe. He hated homosexuals. We learned to call those who were homosexual by an array of derogatory and demeaning names. I learned to hate homosexuals just like he did. I also embraced the Christian faith and I found that the majority in the Church also felt the same way, although they did not use the derogatory names as much. I hated homosexuals and, from what I was taught, they hated me because I was a heterosexual. The religious right always refers to the “homosexual agenda” which in reality is interpreted as an anti-heterosexual agenda. I did not question this prejudice or look into it. I simply accepted that the gay and lesbian lifestyle were wrong and that these people were somehow all perverts and deviants.
Then about 5 or so years ago, I began to question all this. I began to dislike the way those around me talked about those who are homosexual. It seemed that sociology and science had proved that most people are born heterosexual but that some are born homosexual. Even a well respected Christian Sociologist, Tony Campolo, who I have followed for the last 30 years came out and stated this.
Then, on November 24, 2006, I was on a business trip to Edmonton. I arrived in the late afternoon and made it to my hotel, the Days Inn, just before supper. I was hungry and so I decided to go out to eat after checking into my hotel. I was going down the elevator when a beautiful woman came on with me. She was tall and had long curly auburn hair. I started some small talk and discovered she was going out for dinner alone. So I asked her if she wanted to go with me and we could keep each other company. We introduced ourselves and I found out her name was Jessie Allen and she was in town and was going to visit a friend. We decided to go out to Tony Roma’s at the West Edmonton Mall because they have a fake Burbon Street there and she used to be a bartender on Burbon St. in New Orleans. When we arrived at Tony Roma’s we were waiting to be seated, and I asked if she were married. She then said, “No, I am a lesbian and I have a partner whose name is Tina.” She then said that she hoped that her disclosing that did not affect things for supper. I said, “Not at all.”
I was glad to meet Jessie, because I was already comming to grips with my own wrongly held convictions about homosexuality. I explained to her my past convictions about homosexuality and how my convictions were changing. I explained to her that I no longer believed it was a life style choice but that it seemed science and sociology had proven that some people are born gay or lesbian. Jessie told me that this was certainly true for her. She said when she hit puberty, she was not interested in boys but in girls. According to Jessie, she came from a good home and her brother and sister were both heterosexual. The rest of the night with Jessie was a ton of fun. From Tony Roma’s, we went back downtown and she took me to a gay bar called “Prisms”. It was my first experience in a gay bar. There were some people dressed differently but for the most part, it was gay men and lesbian women dressed in casual attire and having a good time. It was an interesting and fun experience. From there, Jessie and I walked to a Martini Bar called “Decadence” and ordered some drinks and from there, we went back to our hotel.
Overcoming this prejudice has been a journey, but it was this one experience with Jessie that enabled me to come to the point where I could say with absolute certainty that my attitude toward gays and lesbians has changed. I have done some research since this time through websites such as RELIDIOUSTOLERANCE.ORG, SOULFORCE.ORG, and also through a book called “God is not a Homophobe” by Philo Thelos. I have also taught my children to be accepting of individuals in our society who are gay or lesbian. My youngest son has a friend who is gay and my daughter has become accepting of gay and lesbians as well.
So an interesting thing happened in my pursuit of becoming a police officer. I was asked in my interview, "Describe a time when you were prejudiced against a group or sector of society described in the Canadian Human Rights Code and how you over came that prejudice." Hmmmmmm. Guess what I shared? That's right! About how I once hated gays and lesbians because I felit it was morally and ethically wrong. To the best of my ability, here was my answer to them. Some of it is a little graphic and I hope you all don't mind. However, this is where I came from and I am so glad I am no longer there! Any way, the police department loved my answer!
I was raised by a father who was a homophobe. He hated homosexuals. We learned to call those who were homosexual by an array of derogatory and demeaning names. I learned to hate homosexuals just like he did. I also embraced the Christian faith and I found that the majority in the Church also felt the same way, although they did not use the derogatory names as much. I hated homosexuals and, from what I was taught, they hated me because I was a heterosexual. The religious right always refers to the “homosexual agenda” which in reality is interpreted as an anti-heterosexual agenda. I did not question this prejudice or look into it. I simply accepted that the gay and lesbian lifestyle were wrong and that these people were somehow all perverts and deviants.
Then about 5 or so years ago, I began to question all this. I began to dislike the way those around me talked about those who are homosexual. It seemed that sociology and science had proved that most people are born heterosexual but that some are born homosexual. Even a well respected Christian Sociologist, Tony Campolo, who I have followed for the last 30 years came out and stated this.
Then, on November 24, 2006, I was on a business trip to Edmonton. I arrived in the late afternoon and made it to my hotel, the Days Inn, just before supper. I was hungry and so I decided to go out to eat after checking into my hotel. I was going down the elevator when a beautiful woman came on with me. She was tall and had long curly auburn hair. I started some small talk and discovered she was going out for dinner alone. So I asked her if she wanted to go with me and we could keep each other company. We introduced ourselves and I found out her name was Jessie Allen and she was in town and was going to visit a friend. We decided to go out to Tony Roma’s at the West Edmonton Mall because they have a fake Burbon Street there and she used to be a bartender on Burbon St. in New Orleans. When we arrived at Tony Roma’s we were waiting to be seated, and I asked if she were married. She then said, “No, I am a lesbian and I have a partner whose name is Tina.” She then said that she hoped that her disclosing that did not affect things for supper. I said, “Not at all.”
I was glad to meet Jessie, because I was already comming to grips with my own wrongly held convictions about homosexuality. I explained to her my past convictions about homosexuality and how my convictions were changing. I explained to her that I no longer believed it was a life style choice but that it seemed science and sociology had proven that some people are born gay or lesbian. Jessie told me that this was certainly true for her. She said when she hit puberty, she was not interested in boys but in girls. According to Jessie, she came from a good home and her brother and sister were both heterosexual. The rest of the night with Jessie was a ton of fun. From Tony Roma’s, we went back downtown and she took me to a gay bar called “Prisms”. It was my first experience in a gay bar. There were some people dressed differently but for the most part, it was gay men and lesbian women dressed in casual attire and having a good time. It was an interesting and fun experience. From there, Jessie and I walked to a Martini Bar called “Decadence” and ordered some drinks and from there, we went back to our hotel.
Overcoming this prejudice has been a journey, but it was this one experience with Jessie that enabled me to come to the point where I could say with absolute certainty that my attitude toward gays and lesbians has changed. I have done some research since this time through websites such as RELIDIOUSTOLERANCE.ORG, SOULFORCE.ORG, and also through a book called “God is not a Homophobe” by Philo Thelos. I have also taught my children to be accepting of individuals in our society who are gay or lesbian. My youngest son has a friend who is gay and my daughter has become accepting of gay and lesbians as well.