A LITTLE FOOD FOR THOUGHT......

When thinking about the gay and lesbian community and the struggle for civil rights that have been granted to all American citizens except us, it brought about a thought on how we try so hard to show that we are not so dysfunctional as some of our straight contemporaries believe but in reality, we have taken on an issue that makes us the same. That is the issue of domestic violence. How can this be? We are same sex loving people who could never hurt our partner...the one that we swore to love forever! Even to the point of having a civil union but it does exist.
Now before you start thinking that I am preaching to the choir, I must relay a personal story that really changed my life. I was a victim of such abuse and even though it was more verbal than physical, it changed the way I viewed myself as a human being. For someone who claimed to love me in one breath but berate me in another, it is any wonder I did not become a basket case! The physical abuse came later, and for those studs who may think that this is funny, think about men who you may know that receive blows from their wives or girlfriends and the catch-22 of not being able to put your hands on her but looked at as being weak. Who do you turn to, and who do you tell? Well the same rules apply here. Put yourself in this situation where you are a police officer and are called to a home where a lesbian couple are in the midst of a domestic altercation. The femme, who of course has a small to medium build and you....larger frame. Who would you most likely believe was the aggressor? Gay and Lesbian domestic violence is a common occurrence and you probably are close to someone who is going through this very thing.
I got out of that relationship but the healing process was slow and painful. The main thing is that I got out and became a much stronger person because I survived. Sad to say, there are some stories our there that don't have such a happy ending. I urge anyone who is going through this, please....please....please, get out and save yourself first! If you need a resource, here is a link...http://www.ncadv.org/resources/state.htm