Anybody else feel SHOCKED?

Before I was a teenager, I started hearing things about "homos". OH, HOW I HATE THAT WORD!!! Fortunately, through the years, the people who feel more attracted to people of their own sex, have been able to come up with more suitable names such as gay. I also hate the words such as "queers", etc! I find those names to be quite disturbing and degrading.

Through the past 35 years or so, I have really tried to wrap my head around the whole essence of being a homosexual or bi-sexual. I admit that there have definitely been times when I have had to question my own sexuality. If people were totally honest, I think that we would learn that most, if not all, of us have questioned their own sexuality at one time or another.

As you already know, I am marveled by anything that involves interior decorating and gardening. For some reason, it appears that a high percentage of interior designers or people who dabble in landscaping are actually gay. For some people, that is quite disturbing. It really doesn't affect me very much. It is simple. Either I like their styles or I don't. Little by little, I have actually gotten used to seeing gay couples on HGTV--HOUSE AND GARDEN TELEVISION.

Throughout the years that I have been aware of the fact that some people prefer to love people of their own sex, I also heard many people blast them because of how the Bible refers to the gays. That left me with a MAJOR problem. 1. I happen to know of gay people either on Tv or personally. I really enjoy some of them!!! 2. Some people have told that since I am a Christian, I should be against them.

I really didn't know which way I should swing (so to speak). Should I continue to accept gay people as individual human beings and appreciate whatever they have to give to this world OR should I completely ban them from my life??? I think that you would agree with me and realize that there is no easy answer. A few years ago, I had the priviledge to discuss the issue with a minister and several other people at the same time. A few of the people immediately responded by telling me that we had to keep the gays as far away from us as possible. Another told me that it was my responsibility as a Christian to "convert" these people to being "normal". The last person to speak was the minister. He told all of us that the first thing that we need to understand is the fact that God did NOT appoint any of us to be judge over ANYONE. He DID tell us that it IS a fact that we need to love and be good to everyone. So, bottom line, those of us who believe that we need to banish gays from our lives really are not doing what God wants us to do. Instead, we are to respect people as being fellow human beings who may or may not be making mistakes in their lives. None of us are perfect.

As far as I am concerned, I have decided that the minister was completely RIGHT on this issue. Wish you could have been a part of that conversation! Immediately after I brought up the topic, everyone was rushing to blurt out their personal opinions. Everyone--that is--except for the minister. As soon as he calmly told us what he did, those other mouths were completely silenced. Very few times have I had the opportunity to be a part of a situation like that. LOL! So...how do I feel about the subject of homosexuality now? It's easy! It is NOT my place to judge!!! I am not the least bit afraid of being friends with gays.

But, after saying all of this, I have to admit that I have been totally caught off guard by two things that I have heard during the past 24 hours. My 8-year-old daughter was with me for the first occurrence. She asked me about it. I honestly don't have a real good answer for her. Here, you can help me on this by responding. Here it goes!

Our family really looks forward to watching America's favorite game, WHEEL OF FORTUNE, together! We like it so well that we have it automatically recorded every day on our DVR. We've always considered it to be a family show that is rated "G" for anyone and everyone to watch. Both of our daughters are excellent spellers and I think that W-O-F has actually helped them with their spelling. But, last night, I pulled up one of their shows on DVR for us to watch. As always, the three contestants were asked to give a brief summary of their lives. Most of the time, the contestants include such things as whether or not they are married, how many kids or pets they have, where they live, what they do for a living, etc. Well, last night, a male contestant was asked to share his life story with all. He very happily announced to everyone that he was married to the best man in the world. Oh, mercy. It had happened on primetime TV during the hours that have been set aside for families to watch. I was really stunned for some reason. Worse of all, my children saw and heard all of this also.

Leighlyn is almost 13-years-old. Sadly or unsadly, homesexuality and heterosexuality are no big things to people of her age anymore. It is discussed in school and amongst their friends, seen on TV, etc. You might say that they have already lost their innocence. For my 8-year-old, she still gets to be carefree. She still sets out cookies and milk for Santa Claus and looks forward to being visited by the Easter Bunny! She is still "naive" enough to believe that mommies marry daddys and daddys marry mommies. So, now what? This man on TV has just announced to the world that he married another MAN!!! Immediately, Abigayle looked at me with those innocent blue eyes of hers and asked me if it is really true that men can marry other men now. I honestly told her that "yes, in some states of the country, mem can marry men if they want to." That, of course, led her to ask more questions. Since I did not want to get into a drawn-out conversation on the matter with her at that time in her life, I suddenly remembered that there were some homemade cookies in the oven that I needed to get out of the oven. I made a quick departure from the living room into the kitchen...

The second thing that I saw on TV in the last 24 hours that stunned me was when I was half-heartedly listening to NBCs new talkshow that airs from 2-3:00 every weekday. A reporter went out on the streets to ask people who the famous people were who they had had crushes on when they were kids. Women listed men, men named women and...then... a man honestly answered that he had had a crush on a famous man.

An hour later, I am still bewildered by these two occurences. I know that we are all entitled to our own individual rights...for awhile longer anyway. But, as a mother of a young, impressionable girl, I have to feel that things like that should not be spoken on TV during hours when kids are likely to be watching TV. But, at the same time, those people who basically announced their sexual preferences, also have the right to do so. So, what do us as parents need to do??? Stop allowing our children to watch TV??? Pull out the encyclopedias and start giving reports of homosexuality to our offspring??? For me, I definitely do not like to be put on the spot like this. I want my daughters to hang on to their innocence for as long as they can!

I really would appreciate hearing from you on this!!!

VLE-B