(Roughly) Daily

In the too-frequently-horrifying theater of events playing out around us every day, we’re reminded that, for all the ambient praise of “diversity,” the differences among people are all too often the occasion for fear, then violence– sometimes physical violence; but more often violence of the “cooler,” but still-plenty-insidious political, economic, or psychological variety…

Occasionally, the expressions of that fear are so extreme as to transcend the offensive; they become so ridiculous as to be funny…

source

But mostly the fear just transmutes into hate…  hate that– emanating from the “normal,” the “righteous”– too often succeeds in (one of) its goals: infecting its target with the guilt that comes of being made to feel “abnormal” or “wrong.”

So it’s a treat to discover Born This Way, a site that invites the members of one long-time target group, gay adults, to submit photos of themselves along with short essays “that capture them, innocently, showing the beginnings of their innate LGBT selves.”  It’s a collection of entries that are, at once, proud and self-deprecating, funny and moving…

Isaac: Here I am with my two brothers in the dustbowl mining town of Karratha in Western Australia, where the dirt is red and the people are predominantly white. Being one of the few ethnic people in town didn't bug me so much, I just assumed I was white like everyone else. Ah, the innocence of youth. At this point in my life I lived a blissfully unaware gay lifestyle: Having all female friends, really REALLY liking Catwoman, and always trying on my friend's fake, plastic, high heeled shoes when I went to their house. I actually didn't realize I was even close to being gay until my graduating year of high school, so this photo is one of those things I look at now and think to myself -- 'How did I NOT know?!'

Laurie: As a kid, I always enjoyed dressing up in more 'boyish' clothes. I loved my Star Wars figures, and hated Barbie dolls. I wore boys Under-roos (Superman was my favorite!) and played sports.

Dustin: This photo was taken somewhere in the wild back country of Wyoming on the annual fall hunting trip with the family. I can't believe I used to go hunting - definitely not something I'd do today. I used to love putting on that great orange gear - the best was the shopping trip prior to the hunt where I could pick out anything as long as it was orange. We shot all sorts of guns - mostly at Coke cans. I only remember once when a deer was actually killed. I just can't believe that when this photo was taken that my family didn't know I was gay. Look at the pose! The hips, the knees, the hand gesture and yes, the gun. How could they be so shocked when I came out?! I always knew I was gay - I never had a problem with it. I just knew one day I'd be a grown-up and fabulous. And I was RIGHT!

As creator Paul V. explains,

…some of the pix here feature gay boys with feminine traits, and some gay girls with masculine traits. And even more gay kids with NONE of those traits. Just like real life, these gay kids come in all shades and layers of masculine and feminine… this project is not about furthering stereotypes. It is, simply: ‘This is me and this is my story’ – in living color and black & white.

More stories at Born This Way.

[Thanks to i09 for the lead to what may be the best book cover ever!  And to reader CE for the pointer to Born This Way.]

As we celebrate the variety that is humanity, we might recall that it was on this date in 1631 that Roger Williams landed near Boston.   Soon after his arrival, Williams alarmed the Puritan oligarchy of Massachusetts by speaking out against the right of civil authorities to punish religious dissension and to confiscate Indian land. In October 1635, he was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony by the General Court.

So, with the assistance of the Narragansett tribe, Williams established a settlement at the junction of two rivers near Narragansett Bay, located in (what is now) Rhode Island. He declared the settlement open to all those seeking freedom of conscience and the removal of the church from civil matters– and many dissatisfied Puritans came. Taking the success of the venture as a sign from God, Williams named the community “Providence.”

Williams stayed close to the Narragansett Indians and continued to protect them from the land greed of European settlers. His respect for the Indians, his fair treatment of them, and his knowledge of their language enabled him to carry on peace negotiations between natives and Europeans, until the eventual outbreak of King Philip’s War in the 1670s. And although Williams preached to the Narragansett, he practiced his principle of religious freedom by refraining from attempts to convert them.

Roger Williams statue, Roger Williams Park, Providence, R.I.

source: Library of Congress