My Sister’s Struggle to Come to Terms with Her Sexuality

I have three sisters and a brother. I grew up in a very traditional family we came from a good foundation. We all attended Catholic schools, and eventually we all went to college. My oldest sister works with a well know organization for kids, another one of my sister’s is a teacher, while my youngest sister is a psychotherapist, and my brother is a producer in the music industry. I’m an author, but this story is not about me, it’s about my oldest sister’s struggle to come to terms with her sexuality. I’ve always known that there was something different about her, when my other sisters and I wanted to wear dresses and put on makeup, she wasn’t interested. When we wanted to play with dolls she wanted to play basketball. When she became a teenager she was kicked out of almost every school that she attended for fighting with the other kids. Soon she began to abuse drugs and alcohol.

I didn’t understand why she was so tormented. Until I realized what made her different from my sisters and I, She was a. . . Lesbian. In her late twenties she came out to my mother. My mother was devastated! My other siblings and I felt anger, embarrassment, and confusion. It was a tough time for my whole family. Then I started to realize that she was the same person inside. The same sister that I looked up to, the same sister that I could talk to about anything. Of all my siblings she and I have never had a cross word with each other. Isn’t that weird? We’ve never had one argument. She’s one of the best people that I’ve ever met. I admire her courage and generosity, she would give you the shirt off her back she spent years working with abused women, and the homeless. Her sexuality is a small part of her life it doesn’t define who she is.

For me the gay marriage issue is a human rights issue. If my sister and many like her, pay their taxes and abide by the law, why can’t they have the same rights as everyone else when it comes to their pursuit of happiness? Some people say well why can’t they just change? Well if you’re straight why can’t you just turn gay? To have the President of the United States basically tell gays “we are against you!” Is wrong. I feel that the President represents all Americans, regardless of race, religion, political persuasion, and sexual preference. By him taking sides on this issue, he is alienating not only gays and lesbians, but also their families, friends, and any other fair minded person. Suicide among gays and lesbian teenagers is higher than any other group. If this is wrong, God will judge them, not you or I.