My sister, my friend.. - Democratic Underground

rainlillie

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Wed Jun-15-11 10:08 AM
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My sister, my friend..

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 that provides support for GLBT teens and their families. 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've always known that there was something different about my oldest sister, 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. My mother sent her to rehab, and she would stay clean for a few weeks; when she was clean, she was such a beautiful caring person. I was 16 and going through one of those lame teenage breakups, she knew I was down, so she spent the whole day with me. We went shopping at a flea market and she bought me a ton of Michael Jackson posters.That same day I went out with my friends and I returned home to find that she had made me a beautiful Michael Jackson collage.

Weeks would go by and then she would go back to her same old habits. I didn't understand why she was so tormented. Why she stopped caring about herself and people around her. I wondered what was she trying to escape. What was so painful that she couldn't deal with it? Until one day, 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 is a strict southern baptist and she wasn't pleased to hear the news, but eventually she came around. She recently went on vacation with my sister and her partner. There were feelings of anger, embarrassment, and confusion. I was 17 at the time and I 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 .Yes, she still faces bigotry from strangers and sadly from people within our family. There are some who still believe if she just found the "right guy" or it's a "choice" that she made, because she's too pretty to be a lesbian. People choose to be stupid, people choose to be ignorant, people choose to be bigots. No one chooses to be gay or lesbian.

My sister has come along way! She was honored by the Governor of our state last year for the work that she does within the community with GLBT people

For me the same sex 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?