It is a mirror of my own salvation. We are nothing without a strong sense of our own identity, and a love of that which we see when the mirror's glow is a reflection of our own brightness. As you might imagine, I have a ton of material on gay identity. I haven't read it all yet, as my reading speed is only marginally faster than a tortoise moving full throttle. I know that once I get rid of the shell, things will speed up immensely.
Old scripts die hard.
That has happened to me before. I believe that gay identity is a very important construct, and it will remain so, at least until we are no longer a part of a stigmatized minority. Homosexuality was considered a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association until its removal from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in 1973. Decisions like this one are a painful reminder to us that our oppression is real, and the constant struggle engendered by gay persons in confronting homophobia and heterosexism is not without its cost. The cost of homophobia and heterosexist thinking is staggering to our young people.