well now i’m just confused

i consider myself pretty open minded…

…and while i’m not “close minded” to today’s topic, i am kinda confused.

one thing i respect about my father (and there are quite a few) is when he just “doesn’t get” something, he owns it. in this case, i would be referring to homosexuality. he’s not “homophobic”, which is usually used to label somebody who doesn’t like gay people (an erroneous usage since “…phobic” means “afraid”), but rather “just doesn’t get it”. he doesn’t understand how a guy can find another guy attractive. it just doesn’t compute in the binary code that is his brain os…

…and i can respect that.

i think honestly that’s what goes on in most people’s brains when it comes to the gay lifestyle, with the exception of the hard-core bible folk who just like to point out that god says not to do it. of course, he also tells you not to eat shellfish…more times than he tells you not to be gay. but the folks that cling to the non-gay thing are the first to get all giddy and shit when shrimp is on the steak house brunch buffet they hit after church.

i guess it’s all in what parts of the book you CHOOSE to read. but i digress…

…so that lack of understanding, or “getting it” as dad says, leads to fear which leads to lashing out which leads to protesting AIDS funerals and shit. fuck those people. i don’t “get it” either, per say, in the sense that i’ve never been attracted to a guy. but in my eyes, that just means i’m not gay…and my wife is cool with that.

the acronym “LGBT” gets thrown around a lot, and i’ve mentioned before i’ve know a few L’s (as in lesbians), even more G’s (gays, not gangsters – although quite a few of those as well), and more than my share of B’s (as in bisexuals, as most of the women i’ve dated have tended to be) but i had a big fat goose egg in the T (transgender) category until recently when one of my co-workers started her (now his) transformation via hormone therapy. what’s really cool is his room mate is doing the same transformation (i’m told the female to male journey is a lot more rare than male to female) so i have to figure that helps ’cause you have go-to “been there, done that” style advice under your own roof.

so here’s where i’m confused:

my buddy’s room mate performs in a gay burlesque show, but does so in drag. so this woman, who liked women, went through hormonal therapy, had breasts removed (significant chest scarring), and lord knows what done downstairs so “she” could be “he” who liked girls, but likes to perform IN DRAG? so you spent all this money to look like (and be) a dude just so you could get some wigs and heels and play dress up as a chick? seems like a double investment just to “return to the old neighborhood”, don’t it?

and hence, my confusion…