Barbara Weicksel

If you vote Republican and we come in contact with one another – I’ll be asking you face to face why you believe I’m not equal to you, and why you believe I don’t have the same right to everything this life has to offer as you do. Don’t start by telling me your vote wasn’t anything personal against me – for it most certainly was – Start by telling me why your human dignity is more important than mine... [ Read more → ]

Life as a homosexual isn’t an easy life. From the time you know you’re gay until the moment you say out loud to the world around you: “I’m gay” could be 10 years, 15 years 30 years or in my case, 50 years. Some people never find the courage to say it out loud and live their lives hidden in shame and denial... [ Read more → ]

It was the 1970s reparative therapy for gays – you ignored who you were and tried to be what society, your church and your family wanted you to be. I did my best. I went to church, I sang in the choir, I had a job. I cooked, cleaned, did laundry and tried to be happy. The thing is – I wasted over 20 years of my life, and the life of my husband, trying to be someone I wasn’t... [ Read more → ]

Imagine, if you can, 400,000 gay youth forced to leave their homes, with no family, no support, and living on the streets. They become the most vulnerable among us. They become the epitome of what is an easy target for the criminals who want only to exploit their bodies for sexual prostitution; and not just prostitution, but commercial sexual exploitation. Children who are forced out of the only home they have ever known by parents, who can’t tolerate the thought of their child being gay, find themselves alone and on the street.... [ Read more → ]

Those of you who have never had to say: “I’m gay” will never know the angst or the courage that is involved in coming out. Those of you who do know have an obligation to make the path a little easier than it was for you for the next person who garners the courage to speak their truth... [ Read more → ]

One cannot ignore the race question when it comes to this election. I’ve seen too many websites filled with racist cartoons and hate-filled rhetoric for me not to believe that we are still a nation filled with bigots who believe that gays, women and people of a certain color and religion have their place and need to be kept there. Sadly, the Republican Party plays on that with their anti-gay, non-Christian-baiting, women-hating, “let them eat cake” platform... [ Read more → ]

No matter who gets elected in November – no matter who makes the laws – no matter what religious zealots say; there is no one on the face of this earth, or any other earth, who will ever be able to regulate with whom a person falls in love. ... You cannot regulate love – no matter how hard you may try – you simply can’t tell people who to love. [ Read more → ]

It’s become easy to hate homosexuals in America, and in some instances, it’s become a part of the fabric of the organization. Political parties, churches, social organizations make billions of dollars on their "gay hate.” They can wrap it in any sort of bow they want, but hate is hate. Period. For some of us in the gay community, it takes a great deal of courage to still love and value ourselves as Americans... [ Read more → ]

As we in the gay community continue the fight for gay marriage – there is still the ground-swell of: “Why do you need to be married? Can’t you just have a lawyer draw up all the legal papers you need? Just be domestic partners, that will give you all the legal rights you need.” [ Read more → ]

Marriage in the United States of America is NOT about religion. The act of getting married to someone is not a religious act. It’s not based on any religion, any Bible, any book, any belief, any potion, any leader, nothing. One does not have to be religious to get married, and religious leaders do not have to preside over a marriage ceremony to make a marriage legal... [ Read more → ]

I do not understand the concept of being a gay Republican. I don’t know how one goes from saying: I’m gay and then adding: And I’m a Republican. I don’t know how one does this… I’ve asked how it’s done and the answers I usually get are vague or angry or completely nonsensical. [ Read more → ]

I’ve been asked numerous times why I write so much about gay issues. Why can’t I just let things go? Why can’t I just let others have their opinions? Why must I protest and tell people not to shop at certain stores? Why do I think my opinion is right? To be clear; it’s not my opinion, it’s my life... [ Read more → ]

We sometimes expect our famous gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to carry our banner to every corner of the world, shouting how we deserve and demand equal rights, when the reality is that they are simply trying to live a gay life in a straight world just as you and I are. I don’t believe we have the right to ask or demand that of anyone. [ Read more → ]

“I love that everyone says Happy Pride, it’s like they’re saying Happy Birthday to us.” I’d never thought of it in those terms, however, for a gay and lesbian your life really does start the day you “come out,” and what is more festive and celebratory than a big gay parade? So Happy Pride now seems even more appropriate! [ Read more → ]

The Boy Scouts of America are a privately owned organization. It’s obvious who owns them – and it’s obvious that their Bibles all preach discrimination and homophobia. What a wonderful example of fine-Christian-Living this is, and how sad for the gay kids who already face hostility and violence every day in their own country. [ Read more → ]

Ten years ago, I was 50 years old. My life had been spent in hiding and had been filled with so many lies and so much hurt and anger, I never imagined there was a way out. More specifically, I never dreamed there was a way for me to come out. But – there I was – this 50 year-old Lesbian, sitting on a corner waiting to see my first-ever Pride Parade. I was a stranger in a strange land – and yet I felt more at home on that street corner than I had ever felt in my home-town. [ Read more → ]

This whole boycotting Oreo cookies isn’t really about the cookie – You know that, right? This is all about hate and ignorance and for the most part it’s all tied up with the “God Hates Gays” bow ... Don’t blame Nabisco or my beloved Oreo for your hate-filled ignorance. [ Read more → ]