¨For people to imagine for a moment that there never were gay or trans people walking among them is nothing less than wishful thinking¨

¨We tend to think that things are better today than they were long ago. After all, we have mobile phones, HDTV, Satellite communication and the internet, among many other things. Of course, not too long ago, we still used to have a more relaxed pace of life, lower stress levels and cleaner air and water - and also a certain level of respect for each other as people.

When we read about the DADT policy of discrimination which has many variants in military forces around the world, I think we are reminded that things were not always this way. Fifty years ago, being different was not always viewed as critically and with such a high level of paranoia and fear as some people see it today. From this we can infer that even today, despite DADT being in force, there are still many gay, lesbian and trans people in military service - even while closeted - they have always been there, and probably even more so.

It would seem to me that diversity is strength, and by having diverse people in your armed forces, we would have made your armies that much stronger. But oh well, your loss.

For people to imagine for a moment that there never were gay or trans people walking among them is nothing less than wishful thinking or driving with blinkers on. I know they may wish it was so, or that they even contemplate that all of a sudden, because of the "collapse of Western morality, blah, blah, fish-paste" we started "turning gay" and "weakening the moral fiber" of society. To their limited, shallow understanding - because they didn't know we existed, and were invisible to them - which in their minds means that we "never existed" before.

Of course, this is nothing less than pure unadulterated bullshit...read it all, by Christina Engela¨ HERE

About the author:


Christina Engela is a South African transgender woman and a volunteer human‑rights activist. She is a member of the board of the South African Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation(SA GLAAD), and president of the Eastern Cape Gay & Lesbian Association (ECGLA). She is also active in local politics.

· Thanks to Sour Grapes, The Fruit of Ignorance, sidebar
· Thanks to Christina Engela, South Africa
· Thanks to S.A. Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
· Thanks To Eastern Cape Gay and Lesbian Association