But let's back up a bit. For those of you who don't know, LGBT (and sometimes there's Q) stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, (and Questioning) and this community has become very vocal in the past few years about wanting their right to marry, to obtain jobs, to admit that they're homosexual or transgender without being ashamed. But why on earth would we want to let people not feel ashamed for who they are?
We already tell women that they need to be skinny, wear cup size D, wear lots of make up, and have a perfect complexion. We tell women that they should not sacrifice their complexion for game-day enthusiasm in all of it's face painted glory (Thanks Dannon Light and Fit Greek Yogurt). We tell women that they should lose the blubber and save the whales (Thanks PETA). We tell women that they should be ashamed of being who they are and that they should try to be someone else.
We tell men that they need to bulk up, to buy the next big truck, and to fall in love with the next big screen TV just in time for Game Day. We tell men that they can't cook for themselves so they'd better find a nearby pizza place with a deal (Thanks Pizza Hut). We tell men that they are the horse's ass if they can't figure out the next big tech device (Thanks Sony). We tell men that they should be ashamed of being who they are and that they should try to be someone else.
It seems, then, as though no one can be OK with themselves unless they are actively trying to be someone else. Did I get that right?
Now don't get me wrong. I'm all about personal improvement. There are times when I have to reconsider my opinions and beliefs and let them go or revise them in light of new information. There are times when I need to push myself a little farther on the track or do just one more push-up because I'm never going to get fit if I don't stretch my limits as well as my aching muscles. But there's a difference between personal improvement and trying to be someone else in that the last one is wrong. It's unhealthy. It's an ever present disappointment. It's Just. Plain. Wrong.
And the Italians, being the stereotypical outspoken love-mongerers that they are, had something to say about it. The M5S party (which stands for the Five Star Movement), after being told that being gay was inappropriate, stood unanimously and staged a Kiss-In that took the internet by surprise. In the midst of this violence and revolution, there are still people out here with me shouting, "Make Love, Not War" and they are shouting this message to the world, for the world, and this message is of this world. Italy is now one step closer to becoming a nation of acceptance and peace, of unity and sweat, of hard work and hard play, simply because they are choosing NOT to withhold this message from ANY of their people. And I am choosing NOT to withhold their message from ANY of the people whose lives I may touch.
And now a message to Italy: I love you. I love your pizza. I love your sausages on your pizza. And I love your audacity and courage to spread love when it seems that there is little to go around. Thank you.
