The original idea for Gay Straight Talk came about with a friend of mine I met through my oldest son. My son worked at Nikimotos in Atlanta - sadly no longer open - and every Monday night they had Dragimaki. It became a favorite place for fun nights out, birthday celebrations, etc... My son was the favorite straight boy, and I made friends with the Queens.
We talked about the issues of coming out and being accepted, especially because I had recently come out and was looking for a new scene - where I could be around people like me. It was a comfort zone, and the only regular place to find it - for me at the time -was Nikimotos.
We started video taping for a series called "Gay Straight Talk" and interviewed people on LGBT issues on the set at Nikimotos. Everyone has an opinion, and no one can make it more hilarious than my good friend Diamond Monroe. We had fun and were getting ready for production and airing when my truck was broken into and my equipment stolen - 2 lap tops, my brief case and the back up. So, the scripts and planning were pretty much gone. We would have had to start almost over.
Three things occurred to me during that weekend: 1) God always has a plan, 2) there was more that I wanted to say about God's relationship to the LGBT peoples, but mostly, 3) I was missing the ladies.
Unfortunately, all my friends were gay guys, and no offense intended, but I'm not into men. We have fun, but we are still very different. I needed to meet women and socialize more. Having only recently come out, I did not have a group of female friends that I could hang out with, or talk to about issues - both personal and political- or have part of the planning and production of GST. It was a huge gap.
As a result, I made the decision to set everything aside until I could fill in the missing pieces.
As usual, God answers prayer. I started working in the fall of 2009 in a place where probably 1/4 to 1/3 of the working population is gay - male and female, LGBT all the way. It is a unique environment. As I started taking a look around, I began to notice the subtle differences in the women who were out and comfortable with themselves - how they dressed, how they carried themselves, how they interacted with each other. Honestly, I learned a lot.
It is one thing to grow up surrounded by straight people where that is the norm, and completely different to grow up in a mixed community of gay and straight where that is the norm. Coming out is huge when you feel like you are the only one like you - it is much different if you come out in an environment where you are the norm. There is so much freedom in being oneself.
One of the biggest things I have realized about myself is that I could never reach my full potential without being completely me. Being completely me means acknowledging who I am as a gay/bi-sexual woman. (I add them together because although I am very into women, every now and then there is that guy that makes my chemistry twinge. Sorry my favorite lesbian friends. I didn't make me.) Having come out and allowed myself to be me, feel me, think me, I have a second leash on life and am working towards and completing life long goals that have been burden on my brain. They have been a burden because no matter how hard I tried, I could not pull myself together to complete them. Now it is easy; its all me.
Therefore the Blog. This was a place created to talk about the issues - but, again, I was missing the ladies. Now that I know more of you, I can write and relate to you better. And so I shall:)
We talked about the issues of coming out and being accepted, especially because I had recently come out and was looking for a new scene - where I could be around people like me. It was a comfort zone, and the only regular place to find it - for me at the time -was Nikimotos.
We started video taping for a series called "Gay Straight Talk" and interviewed people on LGBT issues on the set at Nikimotos. Everyone has an opinion, and no one can make it more hilarious than my good friend Diamond Monroe. We had fun and were getting ready for production and airing when my truck was broken into and my equipment stolen - 2 lap tops, my brief case and the back up. So, the scripts and planning were pretty much gone. We would have had to start almost over.
Three things occurred to me during that weekend: 1) God always has a plan, 2) there was more that I wanted to say about God's relationship to the LGBT peoples, but mostly, 3) I was missing the ladies.
Unfortunately, all my friends were gay guys, and no offense intended, but I'm not into men. We have fun, but we are still very different. I needed to meet women and socialize more. Having only recently come out, I did not have a group of female friends that I could hang out with, or talk to about issues - both personal and political- or have part of the planning and production of GST. It was a huge gap.
As a result, I made the decision to set everything aside until I could fill in the missing pieces.
As usual, God answers prayer. I started working in the fall of 2009 in a place where probably 1/4 to 1/3 of the working population is gay - male and female, LGBT all the way. It is a unique environment. As I started taking a look around, I began to notice the subtle differences in the women who were out and comfortable with themselves - how they dressed, how they carried themselves, how they interacted with each other. Honestly, I learned a lot.
It is one thing to grow up surrounded by straight people where that is the norm, and completely different to grow up in a mixed community of gay and straight where that is the norm. Coming out is huge when you feel like you are the only one like you - it is much different if you come out in an environment where you are the norm. There is so much freedom in being oneself.
One of the biggest things I have realized about myself is that I could never reach my full potential without being completely me. Being completely me means acknowledging who I am as a gay/bi-sexual woman. (I add them together because although I am very into women, every now and then there is that guy that makes my chemistry twinge. Sorry my favorite lesbian friends. I didn't make me.) Having come out and allowed myself to be me, feel me, think me, I have a second leash on life and am working towards and completing life long goals that have been burden on my brain. They have been a burden because no matter how hard I tried, I could not pull myself together to complete them. Now it is easy; its all me.
Therefore the Blog. This was a place created to talk about the issues - but, again, I was missing the ladies. Now that I know more of you, I can write and relate to you better. And so I shall:)
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