We're ready for your close up, Mr. Kotter

Cue the theme song music, "Welcome back...Welcome back...Welcome back..."



Growing up, I was a fat adult in training and as such, watched my share of television. Even as old as I have recently become, I can still sing pieces (never the whole) of theme songs ranging from the Love Boat, Laverne and Shirley, Beverly Hillbillies, Happy Days, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and, of course, Welcome Back, Kotter. Watching a young John Travolta in tight jeans and hippie hair was always a thrill to a deeply closeted boy, but I digress.

This blog was created about 15 months ago and has been something I have really enjoyed. Writing is a passion I never seem to find time or enough concentration for and this blog was a convenient avenue to pop on and share my thoughts. I regularly featured stories about me, about me as Shirley D. Licious at Cyber-Slut Bingo and about my family, especially my niece, Rebecca, with whom I used to share regular interaction with.

In the fall of 2008, however, as the fight for California's Prop 8 started, as a member of the gay community whose rights (future, though they may be) were indirectly being debated, I felt an obligation to voice my opinion and help educate some of the well-meaning, but ignorant people. My theory was that many supporters who actually read my blog may have blindly followed an anti-gay position without realizing their actions (direct donations or otherwise) were hurting someone they knew and loved. Many homosexuals I know are afraid to stand up and be counted. Without the world knowing I'm here and I deserve the same rights as everyone else, how can the law makers know how important this issue is? For this reason, I do not shrink down and cower back into the closet just because others may not agree with my being gay. I did NOT choose to be gay and honestly ask who would? As many can attest, it is not easy to be part of a minority (especially here in Utah), but that does not change the fact that I am gay. To the surprise of some, being gay is not all about sex with other boys. Even if I never touched another man sexually again, I would still be gay. The straight community sometimes doesn't realize there is more to a person than what they do with their poles and holes. If anything, sex among gay people is the ONLY thing we have in common with straight people. If you need further explanation, let me know. I'll be glad to draw you a picture.

When I started adding news stories to the blog that either enraged or excited me about the ignorance/open mindedness some influential people were demonstrating, a very negative, and frankly surprising, response happened both on the blog and off. I do not expect everyone to agree with all of my views, but I do hope they will read them with an open mind. Just because something has been done a certain way for a very long time does not make it right. Discrimination on any level is bad. My blog generated a level of hate and treachery very close to home that scared me. True colors were flown for the first time in the decade since I first came out. The blind ignorance some insist on despite blatant evidence to the contrary is nothing short of baffling.

With this very ugly reaction to my blog, I purposefully slowed down and then stopped posting all together a few months ago. Well, I'm back, Mr. Kotter. I'm back. Part of my 2009-2010 birthday "to-do" list is to become much more prolific in the pen (or keyboard) and to hopefully be published soon. Can't promise every day, but I can promise to be brutally honest with a sense of personification. If I feel passionate about something, you can be sure to read about it here. I encourage feedback, both positive and negative. I encourage open communication and feel the world would be a much better place if secrets and lies were brought out in to the open. Thanks for reading. Have a nice day.