Fierce

Fierce....It's one of those terms that has passed from the gay lexicon into main stream consciousness. When some one dresses to kill for a Saturday night out we can say that they "look fierce". Well I wouldn't...but you might. While few of us could define it if put on the spot, all of us know it when we see it. It's that invisible something that makes you stop and stare in awe and(hopefully) admiration. Online definitions list it as having the qualities of savagery, aggression, and violence. And yet there is another side to being fierce, one that has nothing to do with aggression or how we look on the outside and can only come straight out of the soul. It is that quality of intensity, courage, defiance, and a rock solid core of inner strength that shines through no matter what may be happening to us.

It is most often that measure of the word that makes us stand up and take notice. Individuals, who for one reason or another have make us stand up and cheer for their sheer grit. This week I was inspired and humbled by two stories that reminded me what the true definition of "fierce" is. The first is a report about a Pride event held in Uganda..."kill the gays" Uganda. And Second is the drama unfolding with gay rights in St. Petersburg Russia.

While both may seem on the surface to be unfolding tragedies of human rights....they have also both offered us beautiful glimpses into the heart of courage and how we survive....

Live To Tell

"I have a tale to tell...

Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well...I was not ready for the fall....too blind to see the writing on the wall..

A man can tell a thousand lies ...I learned my lesson well...hope I live to tell the secret I have learned...till then...it will burn inside of me...."

These were the words playing over the radio one night, 22 years ago as a young man steps out of his truck, leaving the door open. He leaves headlights on and the radio playing and steps out into the rain. As the song sings on he climbs over the railing of a rural bridge on a dark and stormy night. The river below was flooded and the dark water itself churned and raged containing its own hidden dangers below the surface. This dark and lonely place is where he has chosen to end the pain of what has been his life....to end the pain of knowing he is gay. This is the place he has chosen to die....