True confession!
"I was gay in a same-sex school"

 

By Henri D. Kahn

 

Whew! There, I said it!

Boy, were we gay in that same-sex school. Gay boys, and of course, no girls allowed. Exuberant lads having a wonderful time being gay. Yep, we had a hell of a great gay crowd. That was St. Joseph 's Academy Catholic school for boys in the 1940s and 1950s.

George, Marcel, Chito, Henri, Raul, and a host of other exuberant young boys enjoyed a gay old time before the homosexual rights movement coined the word to describe a feeling, for them, far better than a combination of fear, frustration, and rejection.

Gay is more acceptable than "queer" or "fag," and I'm sure you'll agree that "drag queen" sounds better than the hard-to-pronounce "transvestite."

Depending on who you ask, homosexuality is attributed to a family gene, an overbearing mother or father, mental illness, an unwillingness to compete for the attention of the opposite sex, your social circle of friends, the "in" thing to do, a love affair with the opposite sex that went bad, forced abstinence of straight sex, on and on.

Whatever the reason, homosexuality is an aberration, not because in and of itself it's bad, but, let's face it, it just ain't kosher.

Being a mature ol' timer, I feel privileged or qualified, if you will, to comment on life in the USA with the expertise of personal observation and experience.

We Americans thrive on current trends with a tendency to swing from what's hot to what's not. Right now many Americans are really hot,one way or another, about the merits or demerits of sexual preference.

Homosexual persons are hungry for recognition as normal human beings. Too bad, because, this sexual preference just ain't normal by the standards of civilized society and nature.

Some religions, specifically Catholicism, consider marriage of the clergy unacceptable, because it knows that in the event of choice between obedience to the Pope in Rome and a wife's adamant desire to oppose a papal edict, the Pope will lose 99 percent of the time. A devoted wife can give her husband far more than any leader of a religious movement. I pray for the Catholic priests who are forced to practice chastity. This is a tough row to hoe and the failure to abide by this edict is increasing daily.

The Gay Rights Movement comprises of a very well-organized group of people with a defined goal that, as we know now, appeals to an increasing number of people in this country.

The vast majority of the persons are registered voters who wield significant political power. With that said, you anti-homosexual folks best put down your banners and start some dialogue with these "other" people who have just as much right to the freedom that our country offers as you do!

Finally, the path to Dubya's exit is getting brighter every day. Hallelujah!