Opinion

  • I’m Not Hiding

    I’m Not Hiding

    I read something recently that said LGBTQ+ people are going to start going back into the closet. I’m not sure how that is even possible once that door has been opened. It is true that in some ways we come out every time we meet someone new or find ourselves in a new situation. I…

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  • Quite Passive, Not Thinking

    What do you suppose Christopher Isherwood meant when he wrote these words? “I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking.” The beginning is easy enough to understand, and it is the part most often remembered. I am a camera. Isherwood was a writer observing the world around him, recording the…

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  • Not the Home I Once Knew

    Not the Home I Once Knew

    I have debated writing this, but I believe it is our responsibility as writers to record what we observe. This is not meant as a political statement. It is simply an observation from someone who now lives outside the United States and returns several times a year. I read an article today written by someone…

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  • Democratic Socialism vs. Social Democracy

    You know I believe in research. You know I believe in not jumping to conclusions. And you know I believe that in order to understand our country, we need to educate ourselves about it. Right now, America is having an argument about socialism when much of what we’re actually arguing about is social democracy. And…

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  • A Dream Within a Dream

    A Dream Within a Dream

    I’ve been reading a great deal lately about humanity’s place in the universe. The deeper I go, the more fascinated I become by one simple fact. Across thousands of years, civilizations that never knew one another often arrived at remarkably similar questions about reality itself. I’ve spent time in Sumerian texts, Buddhist teachings, Greek philosophy,…

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  • The Umbrella That Covers Us All

    I’ve been thinking a lot about the word queer lately. I’m a gay man, and I’m also part of the queer community. To me, those two statements are not contradictory. One describes me specifically. The other describes the larger community I belong to. I understand why the word queer makes some people uncomfortable. It was…

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  • You Were Never Broken

    You Were Never Broken

    Can you imagine being a kid, going to church, doing your best to be good, and then hearing something that changes your world? The very thing you were born to be, they are saying, is unholy. That you are unholy. You go to school, so happy to make friends, and that’s when you’re called “fag”…

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  • Paranormal Tightrope

    Paranormal Tightrope

    I spend some time every day reading paranormal pages and following the conversations people are having. Like many of you, I enjoy seeing what people are experiencing, photographing, questioning, and discussing. There are a lot of thoughtful people in this community, and I appreciate that. Lately, though, I have noticed something that concerns me. For…

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  • The Mourning After

    The Mourning After

    Today is the first day of Pride Month, and I have complicated feelings about it. The truth is, I wish we did not need it. I wish we had reached the point where nobody cared who someone loved. I wish we had reached the point where a month dedicated to Pride was no longer necessary…

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  • The Man Behind the Microphone

    I’ve spent most of my life behind microphones and in front of cameras. In many ways, it is where I feel most comfortable because it was what I was trained to do. Broadcasting. Debate. Theater. Public speaking. Years of learning timing, rhythm, presence, and how to hold the attention of a room. I actually prefer…

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