Hello,

I’m a 13-year old girl from Belgium who happens to be gay.

I don’t understand why some people can’t except me for the way I am. I except them. I except that there are homophobic people, I do. But I don’t understand it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to harras them, even if they do that to me. I have the luck to be supported by my parents and my friends but I know that there are people out there who don’t have that luck. There are people who feel that they are alone in this world but remember you are NOT. I hope some day we can all live together without any form of discrimination.

Remember: Love = Love

Submitted by JenniferBealsFanForEver, Vrasene, België

aderisco alla campagna per una legge che sia contro l’omofobia.è vergognoso che il Parlamento non abbia ancora legiferato in merito. cristina

cristina , bologna, italy

正因为是我les,所以我拥有了一双不同于常人的眼

SIAMO TUTTI UGUALI

W L UGUGLIANZA

MARCO è GAY!!

Saludos ... Felicitaciones .. Colombia .

I am a 28 year old woman, mother, friend, daughter and artist who also happens to be gay. I grew up in an extremely religous household and was taught from a young age that homosexuality was wrong and against God. Because of the homophobia that I was exposed to on a subconscious and external level, I grew up confused and trying to hide the things I thought to be wrong with me. I attempted suicide twice in my youth because of the self hatred I had developed over my young years. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with who I am, and to understand that though I am not alone, I am unique and there is nothing in me that needs to be fixed or altered. The only thing that needs to be changed is the world’s fear and ignorance towards the LGBTQ community.

I made this video to be honest with my own creativity. I have many muses when I write my music, and this song in particular was written for a beautiful woman that I loved very much. I have endured some anger from others over this video, but I have also recieved many emails from people who are thankful for it and appreciate the honesty therein. It is for every other person who has had to hide who they are all their lives that this video is for!

Happy International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia!

We can change the world.

x Tonella

. I am who we are

Is it the lipstick or the wig or the bra That makes me feel I am who we are? Or is it the feel of the stockings and silk That excites the juices of gurls of my ilk?

No, for me it’s when mirror reflects our soul And the woman inside me lives and feels whole Not hiding away fearing rejection and guilt Like the frond of a plant beginning to wilt.

And cursing the gift I reject then embrace A dog chasing its tail and losing the race I spin round and round ‘til the pain disappears And why is it I never run out of tears?

“Trannie! Faggot! Guy in a frock!” “Your balls are showing” “You lot should be shot!”

‘Sticks and stones may break your bones But words will never hurt you’ Tell that to my heart, secretly smarting As venom is spat in my face through the laughing.

Yet something compels me, and screams “I am here” And tho’ I may shake with bottomless fear I have to be me .. I have no choice My female spirit WILL have a voice.

Something greater than hate has made me determined To reject the rejection and accept the affirming. Embrace the embraces of angels on earth, My Girl Friends, whose loving enabled rebirth.

So I put on my lipstick my wig and my bra That lets me feel I am who we are My certainty leaves me doubtless, believing I belong in the world “I am here, I’m not leaving”.

I believe that God made us all unique and different so it’s ok to be me, to be Bi-sexual. It is just another part of who I am and God loves me for who I am. So I will not change my sexuality to be better and improved for others or God as I have no need too, he has already made me just the way he wanted me.

Nomy, Telford, UK

i have straight friends who make snide comments about me being Bi. I have gay friends who make snide comments about me being Bi. But I am grateful that most of my friends accept and love me just, AS I AM.

Lionetta, Brisbane, Australia

IDAHO 2011:Make a difference: Say something It is yet another year the LGBTI communities their friends and allies mark the International Day Against Homophobia. I say mark because we do not celebrate homophobia. Although today we have a reason to celebrate something - because we are still relieved that the Anti Homosexuality Bill was not discussed in the Ugandan parliament last week, we live to fight another day.

Transgender and gay bashing has become quite acceptable and we have somehow developed immunity towards it.

Every year we see messages condemning state sponsored homophobia but little mention is given about the same within the family unit.

But then what happens when we are faced with the same discrimination from our own families; our own kin? How do we deal with it? How do we confront our own flesh with our sexual secrets? How do we deal with that conflict?

For most of us we can’t come clean to our own families because our very being is something taboo; something seen as a curse.

You see Dennis, my friend, keeps telling me that he is tired of being a victim all the time and that it’s good coming out of the closet- where it is dark and lonely. But how many of us can actually do that? How many of us have the guts to take our dads for coffee and tell them ‘…so dad I know you’re wondering why we are here but I wanted to tell you I’m gay…’ or ‘…hey dad meet my partner’. Even if not in those exact word, but you get my drift, right?

But let me put things into a bigger perspective. I’ll tell you my other friend’s story. Let’s call her Lorraine.

Lorraine hid in her closet for 15 years and after 15 years she figured she’s had enough. So she told her sister and all hell broke loose. What transpired is something she would quickly erase from her memory; unfortunately things don’t work that way.

She was kicked out, in the middle of the night, by the person she trusted most with her secret and raped by guards from whom she sought protection. For a long time Lorraine felt like she brought it upon herself.

Her sister took her in after that but physical, verbal and emotional abuse characterized her stay. She rarely ate because her sister denied her food. And she took it all in with stride.

I’m going to leave it at that but I admire Lorraine for her strength and guts. I’m not sure how many of us would survive any of that. Lorraine also took it upon herself to sensitize her relatives about her sexuality.

She maintains her stand and tries to accommodate all her relatives. Some have taken it in but some still find her strange. But at the end of the day, she can sleep peacefully at night knowing she is free to live and breath.

I won’t lie homophobia hurts and sucks like hell. We’ve all gone through it or we know someone who has. But one thing I’ve learnt through the years is that it makes us stronger individuals.

So as we mark this day, I challenge every one of us to at least talk to one person you know about homosexuality. I’m not asking you to come out, just yet, even I am struggling with that. But just try and communicate our fears and insecurities as a minority group.

Trust me it will make a difference in someone’s life or perception; maybe not today or tomorrow but some day. And remaining silent is the bigger tragedy.

Our struggle continues!!!

Esther Adhiambo, Kenya (a Sister, a daughter, an aunt, a friend)

je ne suis "que" bisexuelle, mais déja, quand j’ose dire que j’aime une autre femme, le regard des autres est différent, meme la famille, quand des proches vous disent que vous leur faite honte, croyez moi ça fait mal..... il faut que les gens cessent de se faire de fausses idées sur l’homosexualité, on est pas différents, on a des gouts différents des autres, tout comme d’autre ont des gouts musicaux différents, ce n’est rien de plus, on est comme on est, on aime ce qu’on aime, des couple homos sont parfois meme plus heureux que des couples hétéro, alors il faut vraiment stopper l’énorme bétise qu’est l’homophobie!

briteli, saint quentin, france

I believe that God made us all unique and different so it’s ok to be me, to be Bi-sexual. It is just another part of who I am and God loves me for who I am. So I will not change my sexuality to be better and improved for others or God as I have no need too, he has already made me just the way he wanted me.

As I am

Frightened eyes Voices around swearing, cursing

Force and potency causes mutilation, Cold and alone, Tears burning like warm wax Bruised and ashamed Rainbow coloured girl Left outside grasping for air, whilst drowning in rivers of blood.

Proudly died as I am…

Picture in the paper the next day… Rainbow coloured girl found in alley, Forcefully overpowered rapped mutilated…

She proudly died as she was!

同志亦凡人，麻烦大家都平常心对待，好么。

i love to be proud to be gay

gay couple - proud to be gay, tamilnadu, india

Ego

I am who I am

not who I was

or yet might be

but who I am

and I’ll fight for every part of me

and tackle all adversity

I am who I am

so give me space

I am who I am

not a shadow like I used to be

but a fully human entity

who’s fought so hard to be just me

I am who I am

I cannot lie

I am who I am

not the child you knew as me

but who I am

I’ve used so many masks, deceits

to hold my head high in the streets

now I am who I am

the mask is me

I am who I am

and I’m sorry for who I was

or tried to be

but now for once I feel at one with me

I’m strong and stubborn, the real me

I am who I am

I cannot turn round

I am who I am

I’m shouting now

I’m me, one woman

who loves

and hurts

and fights

to be the person I’ve been looking for

myself where no deception lies

and I know you can’t accept that now

you think I’m trying to fool once more

but I am who I am

that’s all I know

Felicidad

Hay una historia que me encanta, la historia es esta. Había una vez en un reino muy lejano una hermosa princesa. Esta princesa era bastante particular. Ella se vestía con jeans en vez de vestidos, creía que el príncipe azul era un idiota y además estaba perdidamente enamorada de una hermosa damisela de su historia. Durante muchas páginas veo sus problemas y sus batallas. Pero en la última página la veo felizmente casada con la damisela, con unos jeans y una camiseta puestos y debajo del dibujo veo la frase y vivieron felices para siempre.

Termino de leer y me pregunto como hizo la princesa para ser feliz a pesar de ser tan diferente. Me he preguntado por mucho tiempo lo mismo y creo que ahora tengo una buena idea del por qué de la felicidad de la princesa. Primero ella no se dio por vencida. Ella peleó hasta el final por su felicidad sin importar cuantos obstáculos se le presentaron ni que tan difíciles parecían ser. Además, ella logró ser feliz porque nunca se rindió pues entendía algo muy importante, entendía que lo más importante es la felicidad y sabía que sus diferencias no debían ser un obstáculo para ser feliz.

En este planeta hay 6 mil millones de personas y ninguna es igual a otra. Todos tenemos opiniones diferentes, gustos diferentes, apariencias diferentes etc. Sin embargo hay algo que nos une eso es el deseo de ser felices. Todos buscamos la felicidad durante nuestras vidas, algunos la alcanzamos y otros no pero todos la buscamos. A veces las felicidad puede parecer imposible de alcanzar pero no es imposible solo tenemos que entender una cosa. Lo único que interfiere entre nosotros y nuestra felicidad somos nosotros mismos.

Si bien hay personas que nos hacen el camino difícil esta en nosotros no ponerles atención y no dejarlos meterse en nuestro camino. Pero no solo debemos quitar a esas personas del camino también tenemos que deshacernos de un obstáculo más grande que los demás, nosotros. Tenemos que darnos cuenta que aquello que nos hace diferentes es bueno y no malo como nos hacen creer. Tenemos que estar orgullosos de lo que nos hace diferentes, porque solo así vamos a poder ver el camino libre hacia la felicidad. Además tenemos que saber que es crucial que sepamos que nunca podemos interferir entre una persona y su felicidad y que no somos nadie para decidir si otra persona puede ser feliz o no.

En el final lo que le quiero decir a cada uno de ustedes es que todos debemos ser como la princesa. Que todos tenemos derecho a ser felices; que debemos estar orgullosos de lo que nos hace diferentes y que cada uno está encargado de de escribir la frase “y fueron felices para siempre en su historia”.

"In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.

— Excerpt from ’The time of your life’ by William Saroyan

It took me 60 years to accept myself, so maybe I can understand why someone who didn’t understand because they were not wearing my skin would not. When I finally got the message, I looked at myself in the mirror and said "I love you, and I forgive you," and meant it. I forgave myself for all the pain I had caused myself by listening to the condemnation of others instead of the truth that was in my own heart. Homophobia, internal or external, hurts. it cramps lives. It sometimes even kills. Homophobia keeps people from becoming whole human beings, from living with joy instead of self-loathing. No one deserves to be ridiculed or bullied or made to feel less-than simply because of who they were born. My state legislature is passing a bill that will make it illegal to say the words gay or homosexual in a school. That is legitimizing homophobia and it makes me very sad. It has to stop.

miriam, Nashville, USA

I’m a 35 year old Transgendered girl from New Zealand. As a boy I was terribly unhappy and felt alien in my own body. I’d always known who I was but feeling the pressure to be ‘Normal’ held the real me down for ages. I now am the real me, have been for 3 years, and have finally achieved the normality and happiness I craved for so long. I work a 9 to 5 job, have a diverse range of friends from all walks of life who respect me for the hard work I’ve put in to change and care for me regardless of who I am, or was. I have a Mum and Dad who really didn’t understand at first, and probably do feel sad I’ll never give them grand-kids but who are my biggest supporters. I play in a rock band and regularly attend pub quizzes and other stuff. Being Transgendered isn’t to me a statement of being different, it is simply who I am. While I might mourn sometimes for the years I’ve lost I feel so overjoyed to be who I am now, to have a support network who cares for me, and to live in a country that allows, supports and protects me in my transition process. Welcome to my normality.

human rights should be real rights.

I am a law student at one kampala international university. human rights should be real rights.

The constitution and international law sets up guidelines and articles for protecting human rights who is that or who to violate it.

Homosexuality, lesbianism, bi-sexual or otherwise are all natual and by nature one is born free. Who is that or who to violate aborn free person’s right? Respect for all should be observed by all means.

measures and solution of protectin shoukld be taken

an huppy with my FORUM FOR MINORITY RIGHTS.

Willy Budah, Kampala, Uganda

I’m Proud that I Am who I Aml

I’m proud that I am Lesbian.

I’m proud when I look like a boy,

I’m proud when I look like a girl,

I’m proud that I am who I am.

Fox Dian, Beijing, China

Whether love is good or bad does not depend on

WHO

you love, but

HOW

you love.

Homophobes and Transphobes have got the order of the letters mixed up.

"To choose is enjoying my space without being stepped on or stepping on others."

I am a good friend to my friends

I am a trustworthy colleague at work

I am a good son to my parents

I am a respectful neighbour at home

I am a loving godfather to my niece

I am a voting, taxpaying, engaged citizen of my country

I am a careful protector of the environment

I am a loving and respectful partner

I am a tender lover

Is there anything here you would want to fix ?

I don’t