Temp. Anon, your attitude has reminded me of an important moment in my education. In about 1977, I was a member of an organization which promoted social change on a variety of levels. We used to have annual get-togethers, where we discussed issues, made decisions, and sang a lot, too.

On the occaision I'm recalling, gay and lesbian members had just spoken out to the membership about how they felt about some experiences they'd had. Several people gave their responses. One person, in expressing concern that non-members might perceive us incorrectly, if our literature seemed totally inclusive of gays and lesbians, said "Suppose they think we're a gay and lesbian organization?"

Our gay members felt hurt by this, and we began to understand a bit of how it would feel to be gay or lesbian, and have some members worrying that other people might think that "Horrors! They're all gay!" We began to realize that it was more important that we should be forthright about our acceptance of and support for gays and lesbians and their concerns, and not important for us to be concerned whether people might take any of us for being gay or lesbian.

I suppose this attitude would say something for letting someone make an incorrect assumption. Mainly, I think I related it because it shows how people can be hurt if they feel that who they ARE is not accepted or wanted by the group, and feel they would have to conceal who they were.

All the best,

Marymac