Dear Editor,
I read your recent article asking "Should we side with the Sisters?" and wanted to share with you how the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence impacted my own life when I was a kid in Southern California.
At the time I was living with my family in Irvine... the plastic city behind the Orange Curtain. I was on my way home from school with my nose burried in a book, when I heard familiar words....tho I'd never before heard them in the same sentance before. "Faggot....Dyke...Sissy!" and I looked up to find the words weren't being flung at me as I'd at first thought. (oh yes, I've been called them all)
I noticed instead a small group of people, maybe 20, clustered together in the middle of the street holding up signs, chanting, and looking shaken. They were scared because people from the neighborhood were screaming insults at them and shaking fists, and generally looking dangerous. When all of a sudden I noticed a clown... no... I'd never seen a clown like this before it was a man in a dress... with clown face. I wasn't sure what to make of this but she was SO happy! It was Sister X-plosion, bless her. I remember thinking, "Wow there's someone else like me out there. Someone people don't know quite what to make of, who doesn't fit the norm. She's beautiful! Something was lit inside me. A hope perhaps...a glimmer of the future.
There were no Order of Sisters in Southern California at the time, she had moved there temporarily and I'm glad she did. I think she saved my life that day. Not just because the tiny gay pride cluster was attacked, but because she gave me hope. It was the last year they tried to have a pride parade off of the UCI campus for years to come...I don't know if they've had one off campus since. I grew up in an atmosphere that told me it was NOT ok to be who I was. But I remembered that beautiful Sister X and held onto the hope that some day I'd find others like me.
I remember she was dancing around the outside of the cluster, telling people in the crowds they were beautiful, and that she loved them. Mostly, she was just being a joyful and loving Sister. She came up to me, put her hands on my cheeks and said "you're fabulous just as you are darling! Now run along home!" I did, chanting all the way, "We're here, we're queer, we're Fabulous!"
Years went by before I was able to come out of the closet and I finally found other Sisters. The Sisters in Los Angeles and San Diego brought me much joy and I am grateful to them for all their support and encouragement along my path to being the fabulous queer man I am today.
Should we side with the Sisters? For the sake of all the kids like me out there, I certainly hope so.
No comments:
Post a Comment