Does it seem a bit awkward to post a question like this on a website like Amplify? A bit. But I know that here I'll get some responses. Here's a bit of backstory before I go right into it.

I'm writing a book. (Can you read it? No. It's only the first draft, and I can almost guarantee it will never ever get published.) It's about a transsexual boy named Flynn who desperately wants to be a girl in a society that wouldn't want him to be. I try to make this as authentic as possible, using examples from the town I live in and area surrounding it. Here are a few questions for everyone here:

How does your local community react to the GLBTQ society, especially transgenders?

Do you personally know anyone transgendered?

(For transgendered only) What are some daily to not-so-daily problems faced by society?

If you are not comfortable answering these questions, you do not have to. I only want to make this novel as factual as possible, and I do not have the personal resources to do so. If you'd like to contact me, you can do so through comments or at strictlyauthoringpurposes@gmail.com. Thank you for your time and for being here on Amplify.

The long title of this was: Homosexual Urban Legends: The website that makes me want to stick my finger down my throat and puke all of the American society beliefs into a storm drain.

www.traditionalvalues.org/urban/

This website is emblazoned with a button that says, "Do not enter, unless you want the truth!" In reality, this has got to be the furthest thing from. Before you enter, here are a few sample beliefs from this website about homosexuals:

Most pedophiles and child molesters are homosexual. By most we mean everyone.

Only about 3% of people are actually gay.

There's no way to be born gay. It's probably because Mommy and Daddy didn't love you.

Homosexuality is as normal as having blue skin, so don't worry.

...and that's only a few. Some involve Hitler, terriorism, and Marxism, along with many other "Exposed Myths." To top this all off, they've written a book about this. The following is their own synopsis of this book called The Agenda:

THE AGENDA describes how homosexual activists plan on recruiting your children into the lifestyle; how they’re undermining traditional marriage; and how they will eventually criminalize any public criticism of homosexual conduct. (It’s already happening in Canada where the gay agenda is well advanced.)

So, not only are we walking freaks of nature, we've got an agenda to take over the world. They remind me of the National Enquirer. Only, this isn't about Britney Spears collapsing backstage due to drugs. This insults a legion of people, saying that every belief we have ever had in our lifetime is wrong.

There's a difference between having an opposite viewpoint and being crazy. If someone wants to politely say, "I don't believe that being gay is right, but I will still treat them like the people they are," then that is fine with me. If you want to make a website about how gays are mentally insane animals, then you've crossed a line. Is this really how far we've gotten?

So, instead of continuing this rant, I'll ask: what do you think about this website?

I didn't intend for it to be so long until my next post. That was, until the 26th.

It was a completely normal night. I was sitting down with my nine year old sister watching American Idol. Any time a man would come on with a slightly feminine voice, she would go on about how "gay" they were. Mind you, she's nine years old. I said that it wouldn't matter, if they were a good singer they were a good singer. Being gay doesn't change it. She went on about how being gay is so wrong, they shouldn't be allowed to marry, and a man laying with a man is disgusting. What disgusted me personally was that this wasn't any of her thoughts. This is only what she's been taught. It's been forced into her head so much that it's just a tape recorder playing.

At this point, my mother comes in. I start bickering with her. She forces Biblical morals into my face and says, "I understand that you have an opinion, but just because the world accepts it doesn't mean you should. All of your beliefs should come straight from the Bible." I tried to explain that no one's beliefs could come firmly and strictly from the Bible, since no one is perfect, but she kept on insisting. She also says, "It's wrong because God made man and woman so that they could procreate, not man and man or woman and woman." She basically said that we're useless in life unless we make babies. In a life cycle, sure. In actual life, not so much. I went to my room.

She came in later, after we both had calmed down, and she explained that being gay is completely wrong. She asked me, "What if your sister came home with a girlfriend? Would you be okay with that?" I said, "Yes, because she's my sister, and I'd always love her no matter what." She replied with, "No, no, you're lying! You know you're lying!" To end it, she used a hypothetical situation to describe her beliefs. "I don't care if you come home with a Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Mexican, man as long as he treats you well. But if you ever come home with a woman, no matter how well she treats you, I couldn't ever accept you. Sure, I'd still love you more than anything, but I would never accept that."

Needless to say, I cried myself to sleep.

I don't write this blog just to pour out my emotions. I don't write it because, "my life is so terrible ugh you should agree." I write this blog because I know that, somewhere out there, there are people like me. There are kids who are scared to ever come out because of parents like this, and I know because I'm one of them. I probably won't ever come out to my mother. I don't know the future. I might fall in love with a lovely man who loves me and treats me wonderfully. But I also might fall in love with a lovely woman who loves me and treats me wonderfully.

The Bible is a good set of rules. We've based a lot of our basic laws of society off of it. But it says a lot of things that were sinful then that aren't considered so now. Since I'm a bastard child, I'm not supposed to join a church, but I have. My mother had me before she was married and she's been divorced before, but she's still in a church. We're all going to sin, no matter how hard we try. There's no passage that says one sin is worse than another, excluding the Ten Commandments. Why do we take honest love and pervert it to this? How is a man loving a man or a woman loving a woman worse than a girl wearing pants or me joining a church?

Not a literal argument, more internal, but an argument nonetheless.

I walked into first hour with every intention of having a good day. It was Friday, I was going to breeze through the day, everything was going to be good. Before first hour starts, a girl -let's call her Anna- walks into the class wearing a shirt that says, "Abortion is Murder!" Then it has a bunch of biblical quotes and abortion "facts" on the back. Without giving my views on abortion, I'm going to say why I think it was a horrible idea.

First off, she's the "religious" girl in our graduating class of 50 at most. She's the one who argues Christianity and shoves it down everyone's throat. No matter what, Anna was breaking a dress code rule by wearing something offending. As much as I wanted to take it up with the principal, I didn't.  Even so, if things went perfectly and they did get onto her, she wouldn't have gotten more than a verbal reprimand.

My school, nay, my town is almost entirely composed of absolute conservatives. They believe that every liberal idea is wrong. That is why she didn't get into trouble for the shirt. Eight teachers, probably more, saw the shirt and said nothing. If Anna had worn a shirt like that in a liberal school, she would have been suspended in a snap. So, is my school showing by saying, "As long as we agree with it, it isn't wrong"? What if I wore a shirt that condoned drinking and driving? That's against dress code. But if you don't say anything about it, does that make it okay?

The main reason this offended me is if someone wore a shirt saying, "Abortion is okay," or, "I support love. Say NO to Prop 8," they would be suspended. These shirts also offend people.  Although, this would be taken much more seriously since they are considered "wrong". They are allowing Anna to wear that shirt because they believe that it is morally right. My non-rhetorical question for the day is: What lesson is my school teaching by saying that this girl is right to wear a shirt that can offend anyone, as long as it follows their mindset?

I play on a virtual gaming site where people are very open-minded. We have a gay site leader who allows us to discuss pretty much anything as long as it follows lawful and ethical guidelines. Someone created a topic asking who else agreed with the statement, "Gay guys are sooo hot!"

The name typically associated with this is "fag hag". There are many others, such as fairy collector, fruit fly, and queer dear. Urban Dictionary defines "fag hag" as:

n. A woman who enjoys hanging out with gay men.

Now, a woman who enjoys hanging out with gay men does not mean that she necessarily wishes to date and/or seduce said gay men, but it does often follow the definition. We have learned that it can mean many things, one of which being, "a woman who wants to date or seduce a gay man."

This is not the point that I am arguing. It is that she stated, "gay guys are so much hotter than straight guys though!". This is where I begin.

The belief that gay guys are so much sexier since they obviously care more about their appearance is a little stereotypical. The most common stereotype which I refer to is: gay men are always fairies who love Broadway and fashion. If a man likes Broadway, that does not make him gay. If a man cares about grooming himself, that does not make him gay. Furthermore, if a gay man doesn't care for fashion or Broadway, that doesn't make him any less gay. He still likes men, whether sexually, romantically, or emotionally. It doesn't matter if he can identify fake Prada right off the spot or not.

There are many men who are gay and don't follow every blockbuster movie gay hairstylist lifestyle. There are homosexuals with red, blonde, brown, gray, pink, blue, and rainbow hair. Some are fat, others skinny, others in between. There are some who may be physically appealing, and there are some who may not be.

Also, if you'll read this, you'll notice that it's an insult to straight men. It is saying that every straight man is a pig who doesn't care if he looks good or not, and that none of them are near good looking. This is not true. There are some who may be physically appealing, and there are some who may not be.

Mathematical equation to end it all:
Gay does not always equal extremely hot hunk.
Straight does not always equal a hog who doesn't care.

Anyone else who would like to put an opinion on this?

Right now I feel like I'm about to throw up, but more on that later.

Again, if you've read previous blog posts, I finally accepted myself, blah blah blah. Knowing that you thought girls were just as wonderful, if not better, as boys in some cases since you were six makes you different around my area. I really didn't even know what bisexuality was until my adolescence. Then I accepted what it was in my early tween years, then put a label on it later.

I know that I'm never going to come out to my parents. Ever. I don't know why, but having them hate me because I have different sexual preferences doesn't intrigue me in the least. My friends are all homophobic, but one could argue that that's just the mindset they were raised in. Recently, I've got a little bugged out about being in a closet. Aside from the fact that I'm an extreme claustrophobe, (que rimshot) I wanted someone to talk to beside the internet. So, that's when I decided I would confide in my best friend of eight years.

After trying to avoid it, slightly hinting it, dropping it, not talking about it, then finally admitting it, all she said was, "That's it?" I felt a lot better, but I still felt worse. I'm still not going to tell anyone else that I know. I'm not going to scream it from the mountain tops. Yeah, I feel like I'm going to be sick, but that's merely flu stuff. I apologize for falsely leading you on :p

So, this is for everyone who asks how to come out. Just do it. Don't make yourself. Be sure. Don't do it in a fight or something like that.

Anyone else have any stories or inspiration they'd like to share?

I've started to make this a semi-frequent blog. I'm not sure of what to name it, though I don't think that's very important.

If you read my last blog post, you know I recently came to terms with my bisexuality. I don't plan to come out for a long time. Ever, even. One of the main reasons is the mindset of my community. Personally, I am a Christian, like a vast majority of my town. I pray to God and still believe He cares for me, even if my sexuality is different from the norm. So, naturally, if I came out I would be Bible-thumped.

I find this to be extremely hypocritical. What right do people think they have to say that someone's lifestyle is wrong, when they're clearly ignoring the rule that God loves everyone? How can they dare say that homosexuality and bisexuality and transexuality is wrong if they're supposed to believe that everyone is equal in His eyes

Lev. 18:22 , "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.
Lev. 20:13, "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltness is upon them."

Those are two Bible quotes specifically condeming homosexual sex acts. Although, allow me to quote another passage from the Bible.

Deuteronomy 23:1; He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.

That passage means that anyone who's a eunuch, has crushed testicles, or has had their male "part" cut off may not join a church. Yet, we allow them to this day with no second thoughts.

Why is it that people pick and choose parts of the Bible and apply them only when needed? It's often claimed that passages like the one seen above is "out-dated". How exactly is prohibiting any sexuality but straight not "out-dated"? We have millions of people who identify as GLBTQI.

My final opinion is, if you want to be Christian, follow the cardinal rules before you start picking out the small, insignificant, ludicrous, and passé ones. If I can be Christian and accept everyone else, like many others do, why can't you? Whether someone is gay, straight, bisexual, transexual, questioning, intersexed, atheist, agnostic, pagan, Muslim, Catholic, Jewish, green-skinned, big eared, or double jointed, they should be treated the same as everyone in the world.