What gives you hope?

generallyjack

Nearly every day I come across some piece of news about anti-LGBT hate that gives me profound feelings of anger, sadness and helplessness. It feels like a punch in the gut, or a twisted gut. I want to do something, but at the same time, I feel totally useless and insignificant. Do you get that?

There are a lot of posts here about LGBTQ persons feeling depressed and/or angry about being a member of our wonderful community. It is very difficult for a lot of us to come to terms with this gift, because of hate.

I want to give them hope, and I want to re-instill that hope in those of us fortunate enough to be in a good place. If you have the time, please share with us those experiences, stories, pictures, videos, books, quotes, words, or anything that gives you hope and that warm, fuzzy feeling of contentment. It doesn't necessarily have to be LGBT-related.

I'll start with this video: (You might cry; brace yourself!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNYs3vR-qYg

Thanks bunches for reading this post. All the best, and all my love C:

P.S. The song is "Warm Whispers" by Missy Higgins!

Chuchoter

Yeah I was listening to coleman at large on newstalk the other day and they were talking about gay adoption and literally every text was 'I wouldn't trust my kids with them' 'they're selfish for wanting kids' 'kids deserve a man and a woman'. It really upset me that such a huge proportion of the country considers me a danger to my baby cousin .

Pride gives me hope, even though I disagree with parts of it. That you can get 12,000 gay people in one place who don't give a **** what anyone thinks gives me hope. And that we are getting more complex representations of gay people (though not lesbians :S) ie Kurt on Glee and his relationship with his father/coming out, Syed on Eastenders. They're not perfect but its a step up from Gok Wan and the like or just catty sidekicks to a female lead

Chorcai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1-ip47WYWc

rainbow kirby

From Maccy D's in France, courtesy of Carnal Nation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiRC2e-Sszk

Translation:

The ad is, obviously, in French, but a rough translation follows. The spot opens with a cute young guy looking at his class photo in a McDonald's when his cell phone rings. "Yes, I was thinking of you," he says into the phone. "I'm looking at the class photo, and I miss you," he adds as he lovingly strokes one of the other guys in the photo. "I have to go," he says as his father approaches with their meal. Dad asks, "Is that your class photo?" The son nods and hands it over to him. "I looked just like you when I was your age," says nostalgic papa. "I did quite well with the girls." Oops. Awkward moment as the son looks away from his father. But then dad saves the moment by saying, "It's too bad there are only boys in your class...You have all the luck." Smiles and loving looks of understanding all around as a folk singer begins to croon, "I'm going on my road..." Fade to black and the new McDonald's slogan: "Come as you are." Yes, a "royale" with lots of cheese, but this is advertising where the way to your wallet is through your heart. What do you think?

LegacyUser

Someone like Kimberly Reed gives me a lot of hope. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/07/kimberly-reed-prodigal-sons-transsexual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oz2BHFH4fc

Or really any time I hear of a transgender woman who's successful in life and isn't a porn star. Someone who isn't just some "chick with a dick". Media seems to view transgender women as the butt of a joke at best, out to shock guys with their revelation, or at worst psychopaths with split personalities.

GalwayGuy92

It might sound silly but for me one thing that really helped when i was first coming out was the song 'Defying Gravity' from the musical Wicked.
The lyrics really spoke to me, one line in particular: "If thats love it comes at much too high a cost".
As out of context as that is it is an inspiring line in my opinion since the musical is all about this girl who is strickingly different trying to fit in with the soceity and then she decides that she wont 'fit in' because the cost is too high.
I first heard of Wicked through Glee when Kurt sang the song with Rachel and that too really was an inspiring performance for me. Kurt is an inspiring character as he faces all of the strife with a stoicism and maturity, which helped me accept myself.

rainbow kirby

GalwayGuy92 wrote: »

It might sound silly but for me one thing that really helped when i was first coming out was the song 'Defying Gravity' from the musical Wicked.
The lyrics really spoke to me, one line in particular: "If thats love it comes at much too high a cost".
As out of context as that is it is an inspiring line in my opinion since the musical is all about this girl who is strickingly different trying to fit in with the soceity and then she decides that she wont 'fit in' because the cost is too high.

Hehe, thanks for posting that, Wicked is awesome and it's one of my guilty pleasures

Chuchoter

Ah I forgot about glee!

baby and crumble

Something that made me epically happy was when my Mum went out of her way 2 years ago to find a card that said 'Happy Christmas to my daughter and her partner', and made sure that the picture on it wasn't of a male & female, it was just 2 teddy bears. She went to 4 shops to find it.

That same year my pseudo grandmother (she's like, 80 and was my grans best friend, you know how it goes...) went in and yelled at a poor guy in Easons because all their cards were boy-girl. Before me she would never have even thought about it.

Stories my Mum told me about how her best friends were all sitting around thinking how bad it was that my partner and I didn't have automatic rights, like straight couples. I thought they were going to start marching at one stage!

The fact that at my Mum funeral last year nobody batted an eyelid about my girlfriend sitting beside my brothers fiance in the second row, in relatively small town Ireland.

Of course some things make me sad, about how people judge me and put a label on me. But you know what? Other people can surprise you. And that's pretty awesome.

blogga

Great thread OP.
Hope is when something you had given up on springs into a new life, mayb different but new; when I realise how lucky I have been in meeting some of the amazing guys I have met. Hope is a May morning at 5 am when you're king of the world. And always this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K30e9O3Nng

LittleBook

Hi folks, someone in The Ladies Lounge thought you might like me to share this.

I saw two guys kissing this morning by the IFSC.

One was wearing a suit, the other was dressed a little more casually. Both in their early thirties.

It was just a peck on the lips ... have a good day ... see you tonight ... kind of thing, the most natural thing in the world for a heterosexual couple but something you rarely see (I've NEVER seen) a homosexual couple do on the street, particularly in the "financial district".

Warmed the cockles of my heart.

Links234

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE7Zw01bRgE

rainbow kirby

Not so much "gives you hope" as "makes me smile"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWPMkDDAb7w

TylerIE

generallyjack wrote: »

Nearly every day I come across some piece of news about anti-LGBT hate that gives me profound feelings of anger, sadness and helplessness. It feels like a punch in the gut, or a twisted gut. I want to do something, but at the same time, I feel totally useless and insignificant. Do you get that?

There are a lot of posts here about LGBTQ persons feeling depressed and/or angry about being a member of our wonderful community. It is very difficult for a lot of us to come to terms with this gift, because of hate.

I want to give them hope, and I want to re-instill that hope in those of us fortunate enough to be in a good place. If you have the time, please share with us those experiences, stories, pictures, videos, books, quotes, words, or anything that gives you hope and that warm, fuzzy feeling of contentment. It doesn't necessarily have to be LGBT-related.

I'll start with this video: (You might cry; brace yourself!)

Thanks so much for starting this thread, such a good idea, esp like you say with so much negative crap out there.

Ps. (being very gay), I did cry, but semi good tears!

Doop

Only saw this movie the other day, but I thought it was brilliant, called 'shelter' if you havent seen it defo worth a watch... gives me hope!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942384/

rainbow kirby

Gay couple gets married in Washington DC after 65 years together

This made me smile this morning

mollzer

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Gay couple gets married in Washington DC after 65 years together

This made me smile this morning

Thanks for that, made me smile too!

And great idea OP, thanks.

TylerIE

Sorry this video is meant to be a homophobic rant so ignore the trash at the beginning and the last 30 seconds...

if anybody wants to edit the hate messages out please do so and Il change the link - I aint that techny!

Im aware the hate messages go against this post but the rest of the video is worth it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKQXd0MpZA8

And number 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Ed1kb8B6U

generallyjack

generallyjack wrote: »

please share with us those experiences, stories, pictures, videos, books, quotes, words, or anything that gives you hope and that warm, fuzzy feeling of contentment. It doesn't necessarily have to be LGBT-related.

Sort of LGBT related...

Me and the girls were talking about having a baby for ages with the older of the two wanting to have one now but the younger for not some time yet.

We talked for ages, but there was always a worry in our heads about how the younger one would feel when we actually did announce "Its happened, theres a baby coming" and it was no longer just theory and talk. She seemed all for it but you always worry all the same.

I love when you give people news and the first words out of their mouth come so fast that there is no way they could have really thought about it. It is 100% natural.

I will always remember how when the two of us told her it was "on" she screamed "Oh my god we are going to be mommies!!!!!"

It is that selfless, automatic, from the heart, tiny little "WE" that will keep me feeling fuzzy right up to my death bed. One little word put any fear I had to rest instantly.

Still makes me all melty inside thinking of it. Not long until baby time now either!

Links234

http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/3/article_9024.php

Sir Ophiuchus

I love this thread so much.

Since we were talking about Glee, I have to post Kurt's dad's speech to Finn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCtF8QEC8hY

Quality is mediocre, but it's worth it.

Jim_Bob_2010

Good to see the musical loving homosexual seterotypes have a firm basis in reality lol

rainbow kirby

Couple of videos in support of Argentina's marriage equality bill (which is being debated this week) (Spanish w/English subtitles)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN8I8Gk-BMU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BDOOvu5luk

rainbow kirby

^ Argentina legalised gay marriage yesterday.

See Ireland, if a staunchly Catholic South American country can do it, so can we.

Links234

very nice article here: http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=27288

TylerIE

A friend was engaging in something of a drunken PDA in kissing a boy in a city centre multi-national fast food chain recently.

He noticed a few funny stares but being under the influence ignored them.

A guy who had the sterotypical scanger image was near them and seemed to be looking a bit and coughed in a kinda "quit" way. They ignored them and he shouted "hey". They stopped and when nobody was near them started again a minute later.

The guy came over and shouted "lads". Expecting a punch up and tirade of abuse they were a bit concerned.

"Lads", he says "I just wanted to say, Fair f---s to ye's, ya don't give a f---k what anybody thinks, fair f

---

g play to ye's" and shook hands with them.

The guy was in his late teens, had a Dublin inner city accent, and when they were going home they seen him engaging in "anti social behavior" down the street. If even the troublemakers of the city - the people who in the past would have been perhaps who would be most intimidating - are so accepting then Irelands come a long way.....

Links234

<snip>

From the charter:

Do NOT post content of an explicit nature here.

rainbow kirby

Some beautiful pictures:

The Big Picture: Same-Sex Marriage (boston.com)

Podgoricka

Doop wrote: »

Only saw this movie the other day, but I thought it was brilliant, called 'shelter' if you havent seen it defo worth a watch... gives me hope!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942384/

yup its some movie al right.. kinda be cool if all things happened that way ha

MultiUmm

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Some beautiful pictures:

The Big Picture: Same-Sex Marriage (boston.com)

Warmed my heart.

I Found Nemo

A little movie called "Milk".:)