I have been humbled by the response from listeners regarding my stream-of-consciousness reaction to Jeremy's story on Monday. Today Jeff was kind enough to send me a transcript of what I had to say. Good thing, since I was so in the moment at the time of my outcry I had a hard time recalling everything I expressed. I wanted to share the transcript with those who either missed it or wanted to read my message, sans the tears:
Bert is always talking about how he didn't have a family experience like he should have. So he says it's up to him to break the cycle, so that he doesn't have to do this with his own children. And to me, if you're listening and you're straight, if you're listening to me and you're a church leader, if you're listening to me and listening to Jeremy's story and you feel bad at all, then let's stop the cycle. Let's stop it. What more do we have to say? I mean, what more do we have to show? We don't need to treat each other this way.
If you're a church, reach out and tell people we are gay friendly, and you are welcome here, and our whole congregation is going to teach you that God is about love. And if you're straight, then you love your children. I'm happy for Jenn. I'm happy for Jenn to be engaged and to marry Grant. But I've been with my girlfriend nearly five years, and I cannot get married, because it's the same crap that Jeremy is going through. And it makes me sad, and gay people ... we are sad so much of the time. And we're unhappy, and we're hiding, and we're always laughing when people makes some stupid comments about gay people, or gay jokes or whatever, and we just laugh and we smile.
But it's not funny.
This is not funny, this is our life. And sometimes you just get so tired. And I'm sorry for Jeremy and all of the people out there like this. I'm so tired of hearing these stories and seeing people hate each other. Just stop, stop. If you're a church, stop it. For God's sake, stop it. If you're a parent who is embarrassed because your child is gay, stop it. It just makes me so mad and I'm sorry to get so emotional and so mad about it, but everybody just stop it. Let me get married, let me have a child and be okay. I don't know what to do anymore and I feel bad for Jeremy because he doesn't know what to do anymore. Yes, he did the right thing but he has to spend the rest of his life without his family.
Why? Because you think you've read something in the Bible that said to hate us? Then you are the one that is going to be judged, not me. Not me, because I have lived my life honestly and I have lived my life in love and I've loved the people I'm with honestly. It just makes me so mad, it just makes me so mad because when are we going to stop this? When are we going to stop this?
Pervert? A grandmother ripping a child out of his arms? Every gay person listening right now that is crying who is in the closet understands this. There are times that I'm tired, and then people say it's so important for you to be on the Bert Show and the say what you have to say. But whenever we're not on air anymore what is left? There's no other gay DJ coming on and being proud of themselves. Everybody's hiding. It's because people hate them and it's because people do this to people like Jeremy. Anyway, I don't know what else to say, because I feel like - aren't you paying attention?
Then just stop it, you know, just stop it. Let me go to a church. We're still trying to find a church for our family and we want to be a part of a church that loves us and we don't have to feel so self-conscious in there and ... I don't know, it's so frustrating to hear these stories.
I'm so glad I'm part of the people I'm in the room with because they have always made me feel just like them, and they are in here making surprising responses to Jeremy and I have always been proud of the people on the Bert Show, and the staff of the Bert Show. I wish everybody could work with people like I work with, and I wish everybody could be surrounded by family that I'm surrounded by.
But they're not, and it's up to us to make sure that they can be.
To hear the audio of Jeremy's story, click
here.
To read Rodney Ho's article in the
AJC, click
here.
To see my Summer Reading List, click
here.