Ask Me Again: In Support of Gay Rights and All Human Rights

A Kuwaiti woman defies censorship to celebrate the oneness of all humanity in support of gay rights and all human rights

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When people ask why I support gay rights, I am perplexed, because the question — in and of itself — immediately polarizes us against others. Aren’t we tired of discrimination? To take away someone’s right to share his/her body with someone else, and to insist that we have the right to do so, is baffling to me.

I was raised, like many others on this planet, with a set of rules, rituals and an ideology that professed a my-way-or-the-highway-to-hell (literally) mandate. I was afraid of God and even though I had gay friends and never flinched at their unions, there was a part of me deep down inside that thought it was wrong, just like I believed it was wrong to love a man before marriage, just like it was wrong to do so many things I did. I didn’t see anything worse with being gay, but I was taught that our Creator frowned upon it. But as I embarked on a spiritual journey, and veered away from dogma, I began inclining toward the voiceless voice inside of me that assures me on a daily basis that Source is love, and so are we.

And so, it has become a mission for me to defend the rights of those condemned not just in my conservative society of Kuwait, but globally. We have turned being gay into such an issue. In my society, which is steeped in censorship, I still can’t write about it publicly, though I can on my blog. Last year, an article of mine about gay rights was removed from a newspaper website online, ten days after being posted. Did it stop me? No, I sent the article abroad, and I will continue writing about matters dear to my heart.

It’s such a good feeling to not care what others do or who they love, to see each individual as a character in a cosmic novel playing a role. And it is our collective duty to keep discussing such matters until we no longer have to.

I am grateful to my very own censorship committee — my mother — who insists I continue to write and censor nothing. Love is fearsome to people. We have forgotten love. To love people regardless of their skin color, sexuality, religion, and race has become a challenge. We have become distracted by the latest technology, travel, fashion, and fast cars. And that’s alright, we are human after all, but not at the expense of forgetting our mission on Earth: love, in all its forms.

I am connected to the freedom of my sisters and brothers because I know the power of love whether it is a man loving a man, a woman loving a woman, a man loving a woman.

Who are we to stop the process of love?

Everyone, everything is a dance and manifestation. All stems from One, so if the universe supports gays, then so do I. There is no difference between a ‘straight’ person or ‘gay’ person. If we define ourselves by sexual attraction, then we are a sorry race. If we punish or ostracize people because of who they sleep with, then we are a sorry race. If we taunt people because of the color of their clothing or whether or not they wear make-up or grow or cut their hair, or behave in a masculine or feminine manner — gay or straight — then we are an extremely sorry, sorry race.

So, I won’t say that I support gay rights. I will say that I support life in all its manifestations. I will say that the only ones I do not support are pedophiles, terrorists, dictators, sex traffickers, rapists, criminals. And I imagine that even these abominations would dissolve if only we could remember our oneness. When we harm others, we harm ourselves. And if we think that being gay is a crime, then I ask us to reconsider, because the only crime is the judgment of the human body and its desires. And if we continue to use the divine to justify our hatred, then perhaps an awakening is way overdue for humanity.

I won’t judge you for asking me, because I have my own conditioning lurking within me, waiting to be purified and cleansed. Instead, I will hold your hand, so that we can rise in awareness together. I will hold your hand, so we can both discover that everything we have been taught is being projected as chaos in the external realm. And, again, I will hold your hand, to let you know I love you. Finally, I will hold your hand, so that we can ascend from fear to love. I hear the view is sublime!

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