:hmmph: I enjoy reading the posts on GWW. Some are very imformative. Some are matters of opinions. Some are based on facts. Sometimes I choose not to respond to certain posts, and others I do.

All of the above are based on "choices". The choice to post or share. The same as life itself... "choices".

The first thought that comes to mind is that many people state that leading a "gay" lifestyle is a choice. Others will argue that fact. I'm not here to debate that. I am gay. I am happy to be gay. What I won't say and never will say is "I'm happy with my choice of lifestyles". I am simply happy with my life. No more, no less.

Be it your life is that of a homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual or transsexual, why is that of importance to anyone else? Why do I say that?

When meeting people on the street (and don't take that literally), I don't ask them "Are you Gay?", "Are you a Republican?", "Are you a Democrat?", "Are you a Hell's Angel?". No. Why?

When meeting someone, be it at your workplace, in a Deli or at Walmart for that matter, a conversation is struck, you find yourself enjoying the conversation and it's only by human nature that your opinion of this individual starts to take shape.

One thing leads to another and now you're having coffee or tea (for those English on the board) and for those business people out there, perhaps a cocktail during Happy Hour after work.

Bare in mind that this is strictly a plutonic relationship. Nothing more than developing a friendship or person you associate with.

When developing a friendship, are any of the questions I stated above some of the first questions that you would ask of someone? Are they truly important enough that you would base your decision to associate or not with them?

Don't most people base their decision on "how" this person treats them in kind? Or "how much" of an impact this person has on their own life? Or simply "how much" you enjoy their company (friendship)? As long as it doesn't effect your own beliefs and/or life, it really isn't important what they do behind closed doors.

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Why is it that people can be fans of an actor be it male or female, have watched their movies throughout the years only to later find out that they were gay and not really care? I would venture to say, that it really doesn't matter (for at least the bulk of the fans). Chuck Connors for example starred in "The Rifleman" on TV. He was gay. So what? It was the show itself. NOT about the actor(s) personal beliefs or lifestyle.

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The AFA and their boycotts. The American Family Association... "Amercian Family Values?"... hmmm... It takes a Male and a Female to propogate the species. Are Homosexuals, Heterosexuals, Bisexuals or Transsexuals "hatched" or better yet, "Test Tube Babies"? Where does the AFA suppose that these individuals come from?

I suppose if one of the AFA families had a child, discovered later on that "little Johnnie" or "Susie" were homosexual, then they had to be shipped off to some remote island. Banned from society... who's society? The AFA's society? And if so, I can't imagine the mother of this child being quite so willing or emotionless about having to send the child away.

It would seem that a keyword has been left out of their "formula" for evaluating "American Family Values"... "LOVE"

Would they not be better off supporting or promoting something that would educate the "U.S." society (minority) on how to better "deal with", "accept", "work with" (use your own term) lifestyles that differ from their own.

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Somewhere it was stated "For the People, By the People"... maybe some of you will remember this. And how many times have you heard a speaker use "We the people" in their opening remarks? I don't recall voting or being asked to be a part of the matter in which they are about to address.

Here in the U.S. we have ballots, voting booths, whatever you want to call them... but we VOTE on the next president... vote on new laws... or at least you hear of "voting" on one thing or another.

Why don't we have public "Voting Booths" on a regular basis to vote on every topic? Since it is "For the People, By the People", why is it that "we the people" don't get to vote on every single matter that Congress and The House or for that matter the President pass laws on? And don't give me that crap that that's what your Congressman or Congresswoman is for. BS!!! "We, the people" should have a direct vote just like on election day. Unfortunately, we don't always have the best of choices, but that's a whole other subject.

Let the people decide themselves or at least voice their individual opinions, not those opinions of "groups" or "associations" or "political parties" that ARE NOT truly representative of the American People as a whole. THEN and only THEN would it truly be... "For the People, By the People".

I may be placing way to much faith in the average person by saying this, but I truly feel that we would not see many of these issues rising to the top of someones personal agenda's priority list. Or for that fact, be on any list of agenda's.

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Homosexuality isn't something new that was discovered by the US or it's political parties or the AFA. "We're here, We're Queer!"

If anything, it's only because "we the people" have allowed such issues to become "issues" in the first place.

Just some odds & ends thoughts...

PapaBear