Agreed! Discrimination is in the news too- The Jena Six, Nooses at Columbia University, and High Schools across the country, places of business and peoples homes. And why?

I would say beyond the obvious answer, there is a great deal of "Copy Cat" behaviour.

Growing up i didn't get the Memo i was supposed to hate Black people. When i got a little older and realized fully what i was about, it was pretty certain i lived in a Glass House- so i shouldn't throw stones!

I think it was when i went full time and i was around others like myself- the assaults, murders, rapes and bludgeoning that it crossed my mind to "Hate Them Back."

It didn't work very well for me... "Hating" that is- and i've never known why. I guess with hindsight, i was too busy trying to understand and preoccupied with learning- who knows?

This is extremely private and i ask your sensitivity and compassion responding to what is a very vulnerable place for me- but a friend sent me a DVD about a Motivational Speaker named Byron Katie.

From it i learned about "Approval Seeking", i guess she saw in me an extroverted need for acceptance i projected onto the public and it was harming me. Remember me wanting to Hate?

Pretty much overnight i learned to stop Approval Seeking. That is not to say i was full of negative attitude- no, but i learned a negative or less than positive response or reaction from another person is "THEIR PROBLEM", not mine... unless of course i choose to allow it to become mine.

That message on that DVD along with something from my childhood made a link: Eleanor Roosevelt once said something to this affect- "Nobody has the power to make you feel poorly of yourself unless you give that power to them!

That was a "Wow!" to me, but then i've read a lot about Eleanor Roosevelt because when i transitioned i wanted to be a strong woman, like the women i know and have grown up knowing and be looked up to when done. That's why i read so much about remarkable women.

Ya' know- it's human nature to gossip, and i'm sure people have all sorts of things to say about me, i sincerely think unless they lie they're not going to have too much disparaging to say.

Let's look at the person making the trouble- Have you ever seen the guy who spends hours talking about how bad Homosexuals are? Those of us who are old enough have seen the same guy ten years later with his boyfriend sucking face.

Discrimination and Prejudice talks about it's fears. Often (but not always) it can be an overcompensation to distract attention away from themselves and onto another because of their internal discomfort...

...just like we have internal discomfort feeling female or male.

Golly Gee Whiz Wally- then we have more in-common with our accusers than we thought... only difference is we are constructively doing something about it and bothering no one, but they instead choose to chastise and castigate me or someone else!

Now you tell me- who is living in their insanity? The person Bullying you or you?

You know my answer- find a way to connect the dots inside you, that way it will have your personal sense of power for your use, that you derived from this and remember until then that "The best revenge, is a life lived well!"

Love & Light-

-Marina

i understand how pat feels. A lot of my sadness comes from a fear of being hurt if I were to express myself as I choose. And on many occasions, I have kept silent when I should have spoken up, or spoken when I should have kept silent, or let others think I aggreed with them, just to be accepted by them.