Keeping it Real WRITTEN BY BLAIR FJESETH
We have a pack of neighborhood kids who roam from home to home, play games, create outdoor adventures, snack-hop and check out whoever has the latest toy or video game. The flock of seagulls, as I have deemed them, were in our yard recently playing some made-up ball game, when one of the kids came inside, plopped down at the kitchen counter and let out an audible "humph" to capture my attention. I looked up from the dishes and said, "What's going on, sweetie?"— a nickname I use with all the kids to protect myself from calling them the wrong name. She uttered a just-above-whisper level, "What made you put up your sign out front?" The sign she was referring to is an LGBTQ+ friendly flag overlaid with "You Are Loved" in bold lettering.
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summer 2022
I paused and said, "We believe that people should be able to love who they want and marry who they want. We try to respect all people no matter who they are." "Do you know anyone who is gay?" she asked. "I do," I replied. "Lots of people, including my dad and my little brother." She cut in. "And a gay neighbor"... Did she just come out to me? I could see it in her face that she did. I put down the dishrag and looked her square in the eyes – eyes that questioned my reaction, curious about what I would say next. I wasn't sure what to say; that kind of information isn't surprising to me, nor is it something I think people should even have to do. We put a lot of pressure on LGBTQ+ people to declare who they are and, quite frankly, it shouldn't matter – you love who you love; that's it.
