The evening as usual, I finished my Sunday evening beauty routine: doing nails, plucking eyebrows, bath with bubbles and candles, good night talk conversation with Ante. As I was about the turn off my TV and go to sleep, the familiar title caught my attention -“The Laramie Project”. This is the movie, based on a true story of a hate crime (murder) of a young gay man in a small town of, I believe it was Iowa.
Two equally young men planned this hate crime, where they picked up young Matthew at this bar and offered him a ride home later, on their way they stopped in the middle of nowhere, tide him to the fence, ran at him with the car and beat him up unconscious, after which they drove away and left him there for 18 hours to day. Mathew died of sever head injuries coupe of days later. Based on this movie, the play “Angels in America” was written, this is the play I first got to see my junior year at Towson University. This play shone a whole new light on the way I was seeing a life of a gay person.
Raised in a rather liberal family, in spite the cultural climate at the time, I was always open for differences, but never got to really understand how difficult it must be different from all the rest until I got to be an “alien” European in Maryland basketball team, and that of course I know now is not as half as hard, because although I definitely felt out of place in many things, I never feared for my life and I always did have an understanding and support of my emotional core, my family and close friends. Playing and socializing with my gay friends, I started to gain a better understanding and admire them more as I got to know them better. Without exclusion, each and every one of those man/women are exceptional people who are in addition to all other daily life worries given, not as choice, yet another tough battle to fight throughout their lives.
Yes, this might sound so passé, now with Obama being elected as first black American president, the world wide Westernization and the new born hope, and not to be negative at all, but I think we all know the intolerance is still here. Thankfully there is less physical violence, but the seed of hatred is still there and this is what worries me sometimes. This is why I cried tonight watching this movie again, because it reminded me of a “suppose to be funny gay joke” or a “suppose to be funny resist or ethnocentric joke”, which we all hear on daily basis and stay quiet, say nothing at all. This is what has to change, and let’s not be hypocrites, I have to speak up first, no companies rule, no law or holly command will make a change, I will!
No matter if you are catholic, protestant, and atheist; no matter if you went to college or not; no matter if you are raised by parents who have zero tolerance for anybody who is remotely different, DO NOT use any of I as an excuse to be lazy and just hate. DO make an effort to truly meet a person and never judge if one is different. Live and let live. Simple as that. You are the one who has the power and the responsibility to one day, if so is your choice, teach your kids about life so make an effort and gain enough strength not to, even in your weakest moment plan a seed of a hearted towards anybody or anything into a new life. If your own demons (which you hopefully recognize on time) are to strong, be sure to leave some blank pages and let your child write them by him/herself.
So lets clean up in own backyard first, and than look across the fence. Because, maybe then my friend and his partner will be able to get married and hold hands in public without people looking at them as they were from another planet. Maybe my other friend will be able to adopt the baby or just admit to her parents that she is gay, maybe she will be able to stop pretending at work that her boyfriend is so busy that he never has a second to pose for a photo with her, all so she can progress in her career or even worse, still have a family to go to for holidays.
I pray and hope that “The Angels” land in Croatia soon; I hope they land here and stay.
Two equally young men planned this hate crime, where they picked up young Matthew at this bar and offered him a ride home later, on their way they stopped in the middle of nowhere, tide him to the fence, ran at him with the car and beat him up unconscious, after which they drove away and left him there for 18 hours to day. Mathew died of sever head injuries coupe of days later. Based on this movie, the play “Angels in America” was written, this is the play I first got to see my junior year at Towson University. This play shone a whole new light on the way I was seeing a life of a gay person.
Raised in a rather liberal family, in spite the cultural climate at the time, I was always open for differences, but never got to really understand how difficult it must be different from all the rest until I got to be an “alien” European in Maryland basketball team, and that of course I know now is not as half as hard, because although I definitely felt out of place in many things, I never feared for my life and I always did have an understanding and support of my emotional core, my family and close friends. Playing and socializing with my gay friends, I started to gain a better understanding and admire them more as I got to know them better. Without exclusion, each and every one of those man/women are exceptional people who are in addition to all other daily life worries given, not as choice, yet another tough battle to fight throughout their lives.
Yes, this might sound so passé, now with Obama being elected as first black American president, the world wide Westernization and the new born hope, and not to be negative at all, but I think we all know the intolerance is still here. Thankfully there is less physical violence, but the seed of hatred is still there and this is what worries me sometimes. This is why I cried tonight watching this movie again, because it reminded me of a “suppose to be funny gay joke” or a “suppose to be funny resist or ethnocentric joke”, which we all hear on daily basis and stay quiet, say nothing at all. This is what has to change, and let’s not be hypocrites, I have to speak up first, no companies rule, no law or holly command will make a change, I will!
No matter if you are catholic, protestant, and atheist; no matter if you went to college or not; no matter if you are raised by parents who have zero tolerance for anybody who is remotely different, DO NOT use any of I as an excuse to be lazy and just hate. DO make an effort to truly meet a person and never judge if one is different. Live and let live. Simple as that. You are the one who has the power and the responsibility to one day, if so is your choice, teach your kids about life so make an effort and gain enough strength not to, even in your weakest moment plan a seed of a hearted towards anybody or anything into a new life. If your own demons (which you hopefully recognize on time) are to strong, be sure to leave some blank pages and let your child write them by him/herself.
So lets clean up in own backyard first, and than look across the fence. Because, maybe then my friend and his partner will be able to get married and hold hands in public without people looking at them as they were from another planet. Maybe my other friend will be able to adopt the baby or just admit to her parents that she is gay, maybe she will be able to stop pretending at work that her boyfriend is so busy that he never has a second to pose for a photo with her, all so she can progress in her career or even worse, still have a family to go to for holidays.
I pray and hope that “The Angels” land in Croatia soon; I hope they land here and stay.
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