Hello Friends,

Being Gay, much like being Pagan, means that sometimes ones friends direct questions about the whole of Queerdom (or Pagandom) to you.  Sometimes this is of the “whats this freakishness about” school of inquiry, and sometimes like below its more of a question for clarification….

So my dear friend and sometimes co-conspirator ‘Nyx tagged me in a post on Facebook asking the following question…

Am I wrong? Is the Rainbow Flag NOT all inclusive? 

Here is my response…

“Hey ‘Nix,

Well, these days I would say the flag is pretty darn inclusive but even the exact design of the Freedom Flag as it is sometimes known, is a fluid thing…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag

The LGBT community, and LGBT rights movements have a complex history.  This Link from Wikipeida may be useful..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_social_movements

It might also help to think of the LGBT community as being a lot like the Pagan Community, or a Venn Diagram, several overlapping circles of communities.  There are branches of the LGBT, or GLBT (to give the guys some equal time in the lead of the alphabet soup), community that have their own identity issues and identification needs and their own ideas of self-hood even within the larger GLBT community.

In the 1970’s when the flag first emerged, some LGBT groups felt that they were different communities better said to be allied with the Gay community, especially as the Women’s Liberation movement gained steam and the Lesbian community started to emerge into its own… and they had some conflicts politically and philosophically with the larger GLBT movement.

Then too we are dealing with the power of a symbol.  The Pride Flag, or any form of Pride Flag, represents an act of empowerment and a claiming of self-worth.

These days I’d say that the Rainbow Flag is mighty damn inclusive, but its inclusiveness has grown grown over time and been part of a journey through history and politics and culture.”

Hope this helps,
Geoffrey / Pax

Dear Friends,

I am not sure why, exactly, the Gregorian New Year has been the Turning Point in my year this year, but that’s what it has been.

My work schedule allowed me to be home to toast in the New Year with The Fabulous Jonathan and share a New Years Kiss with him.  He is working through a number of health problems and finally beginning to take steps to deal with them productively,  I have been in contact with many of my family and friends vie phone and Facebook and reweaving strands of connection with many people I care about or who have touched my life for the better.

TFJ and I are striving to eat healthier this year for our health, and New Years Day we had a much needed heart to heart about the ups and downs of the last couple of years.  We have faced a lot of financial challenges, and the collision of our pasts as we stumble into, over, and around each others emotional baggage.  Yet we love one another and are in love with one another and we keep finding ways to talk.

That’s the key, isn’t it, to just keep talking and to remember that you love this person even when they are driving you mad?

On the spiritual front, I have already made some offerings of Oil and Honey Wine and Herbal Tea to the Household Spirits.  This is the week I will redress and dust off the Altar and begin reweaving my connections to the Gods and Ancestors…

They are there, and I take heart in my idea that They know that sometimes other connections and other parts of our Mortal lives take us away from our times with Them…

Now I need to go make some breakfast salad for TFJ and myself,

Peace, and a Blessed New Years,

Pax / Geoffrey