Posts Tagged ‘ LGBT Support

How to make Lesbian Friendships

Ever feel at a loss? Are you completely consumed by life demands? At times it feels like we are on a stage and everyone is watching us fail! We have a sense of lose, as if it is within reach but like a toy that’s been taken by the ocean’s current it has slipped away.

 

Every relationship has left a trace, maybe even jaded our view of life and love to a point where even if perfection was to walk in it would seem impossible to see her! Or maybe even want her. Why want what you can’t have or ever keep.

You go out and every woman looks the same, every woman sounds the same, so familiar on the surface nothing has changed.  We have the same discussion with different faces and hear the same empty promises and speech of lost loves and new beginnings. 

We have become committed to finding a partner so badly that for most of us friendships have been put aside, until that someone comes along. Others of us have been in relationships where being with one another was sufficient and slowly isolated you from the world. Friendship, the unconditional love we have for what once was a stranger is the equivalent to oxygen in a healthy person.

Lesbians have difficulty maintaining friendships with other lesbians. In fact, I always get a distrustful look when I tell women that all I want is a lesbian friendship from them or that I have not slept with any of my friends. Maybe I am plagued with an ideal that a love of a friend shouldn’t be cluttered by sexual advances or memories that often skew intentions and bonds. Not to say I have ex’s whom aren’t my friends but it’s different to a friend that I have shared secrets, dreams and fears without any vulnerability of sex interfering in the connection.

Then again I am an idealist and as such I think big without focusing on detail, so it may all be crap, so here are some ways to build friendships simply because it is good for you to have that kind of love! 

  • Start or join a Club, it does not matter what kind just as long as you’re passionate and have an interest. It could be a book club, chess, or some kind of activity. I used to love going to my knitting group, I can’t knit to save my life and never actually made anything but I loved listening and spending time with those ladies.
  • Volunteer, you will be doing something for another without a reward and building connections with people you may have never encountered. I suggest you begin with our community; we are in need of volunteers at local LGBT centers.
  • Online, it can be safe if used widely and you will make friends globally!
  • Go to a meeting, if you’re into any kind of recovery get to a meeting, There is alcoholics (AA), narcotics (NA), codependents (CODA) anonymous meetings as well as multiple support groups for a variety of issues, behaviors and problems.
  • Go back to school or take a night class, it will build your self esteem to complete or become more competent in a different area as well as help you meet people with similar interests.
  • Get to know your neighbors, unless they are crazy or have gay bashing material visible then stay away!
  • Sign up with your alumni, you’ll get news from peers and reconnect and be able to share war stories.
  • Talk to a stranger, I do this all the time and it can be fun, you never know where the conversation is going to lead you. It is also a very good way to practice your communication skills!

Friendships are built on who we are, but mostly they are amazing when life feels lonely and repetitive. You can share laughter and tears with someone that loves you. You can also just do what my girlfriends and I enjoy doing, communicating on a level where we are able to be with gay women that understand the lifestyle. Lesbians understand the complexities of women and can have a safe place to share and grow from your LGBT support system!

~The Lesbian Guru 


Please Subscribe  for future articles and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to email me at TheLesbianGuru@Gmail.comwith ExaminerQ as the title or you can follow me on my Blog http://TheLesbianGuru.com! Or just Join The Lesbian Revolution of Health & Love on http://http/Twitter.com/TheLesbianGuru or http://Facebook.com/TheFemmeGuru

Coming Out with The Lesbian Guru

Coming out Lesbians!  This is a celebration of your true identity being unveiled and released into the world.  I wish there were a more beautiful and transformational term to refer to the process of developing and sharing your sexual orientation. I believe if it were a more affirmative term it would create a more positive and hopeful experience. Words have a powerful and energetic effect on people when said, thought, and expressed. 

Everyone’s coming out story is so unique, an imprint on our life’s journey, so powerful it can have a life altering effect on where it leads us in our future and how we perceive the world and those we hold closest to us. For some lesbian’s coming out is met with love and support, as well as “yeah, everyone knew already.”

I was so frightened to tell my sister, the only family I had, that I was going to be exclusively with women and that I figured out why I could not connect with men as much as I tried, “I am Gay!” Her response was witty and dry as always to her true form, “Babes, I don’t know about you but if you’ve been looking under girls skirts since you were six you probably are Gay!” We both laughed and that was the end of it, now she is the most supportive and loving person in my life and I get to enjoy being completely true to who I am with her.

This is not to say that all my “Yes I’m a homo” experiences have been as pleasant.  Coming out is a long and difficult struggle and will often be met with a lot of resistance? In fact I had a couple of childhood female friends that became angry with me. They thought that during our friendship I may have secretly desired them and didn’t tell them. I was shocked, mostly because if I want something I go for it, but also because I realized that people could be so quick to judge homosexuality as just an uncontrollable desire to have sex or want to have sex with everything that has a vagina if you are a lesbian or a penis if your gay man.

You may encounter a lot of stereotyping and homophobia during this time, so be aware and prepared that not everyone will be happy for you or want to know you, and that’s OKAY. Now don’t get mad, but if you have the right to have beliefs and values so does everyone else, so if a friend or family member decided that who you are goes against their belief system and walks away you need to respect that. As wrong as it may be or seem, that is their choice. It is sad that they will be losing out on someone amazing but sometimes people need a time out to get the bigger picture and will eventually return and sometimes they won’t!

It will be hard not to internalize this abandonment, but I don’t want you to forget that people are responsible for the choices they make and that if someone has a problem “it’s their freaking problem”, not yours.  I have seen so many LGBT become resentful and angry at those who do not or cannot understand us but that’s a form of self- punishment for who you are. You are beautiful even when others don’t see it!

If we fight for equality and a right to be who we are, we also need to respect that people have the right not to agree. I am still going to bitch and moan until the sun goes down on getting civil rights but I will always respect someone that chooses not to be in my life because I am gay. Why? Because it’s not my problem and I would definitely rather have people in my life that want me just the way I am! Keeping secrets is exhausting and leads to depression and anxiety, so decide what you are prepared to live with.

Presenting your Charming and Magnificent gay side of who you are (there is a lot more than just being gay that makes you unique) shows a positive identity and attitude towards being a LGBT.  For some this will be a lifelong passage where as for others they will embrace their orientation straight away. You may have to deal with your own homophobia and explore feelings of guilt, shame, loathing, anger and intolerance. During your self-discovery there will be hopefully a development of feelings of enjoyment and wonder of what being gay is all about.

I have learned this much on my journey, that if I want people to change and be open to homosexuality I am going to have to educate and make them aware of the stereotypes and myths. Once you put doubt in someone’s fears, that they may not be true, you leave an opening for growth and curiosity! We are teachers and representatives of a minority group, for us to be supported and loved we need to make aware that we are here and explain the truth of who we are! We also need to be supportive and available for each other, our LGBT “family” because whether you like it or not you belong to a network, one that understands the struggles so use it as a support system.

I encourage and suggest that those struggling with their identity to go see a therapist and start working on building a positive self image and feelings surrounding coming out. You will be able to express your feelings openly and have a licensed therapist work through them with you. Coming Out with The Lesbian Guru on YouTube

If there is at any time thoughts of suicide seek help immediately and call 911. Suicide is not an answer or solution, just a hurtful action. Please talk to someone!

Dedicated to Miss G, thank you for reading and sharing your story with me.

~The Lesbian Guru                                                                              

Please Subscribe for future articles and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to email me at TheLesbianGuru@Gmail.comwith ExaminerQ as the title or you can follow me on my Blog http://TheLesbianGuru.com! Or just Join The Lesbian Revolution of Health & Love on http://Twitter.com/TheLesbianGuru or http://Facebook.com/TheFemmeGuru

Intimate Lesbian Connection

It’s pretty fantastic and amazing when you consider how we fall in love, that the feeling cannot be duplicated for any one woman we have connected to. The emotion is so seducing and mind altering, research has shown that our brain chemistry resembles that of someone high on cocaine the first 3 to 9 months of dating (PATRICIA LOVE, Ed.D. , awesome lady must read her books! .

High on love? Yes, it’s wonderful and makes us do wonderfully stupid things- like move in together after two weeks, and no I’m not pointing any fingers! We lose all reason, forget all past pains, and at first believe in an everlasting hope and happiness.

Unfortunately, after awhile the high leaves and reality sets in, and we find ourselves often confused and unsettled. We crave love and partnership so much that we either reject it completely stating we enjoy being alone (I really can’t go through this again!) or become love addicts (I love you after the first date). Very few lesbians (not just lesbians but people in general) have successful long lasting relationships. In a time of extreme stress and deadlines we have lost the art of dating and intimacy.

Intimacy not sex, anyone can have sex but intimacy is a skill. It’s not about getting closer just physically but on an emotional and mental level. You have to be willing to set boundaries and make yourself vulnerable at the same time. You have to be willing to give one day and receive the next, and grow together. There needs to be an understanding that rules are required in a relationship and that they will change with people. That the only way to deal with that change is not through avoidance or anger but the art of conversation. Do you know how to ask for what you want? Can you tell me right now something you need? Again something you need, not need to help someone else? Tell me right now, look at me, what do you want? Whisper to me what you desire within you. (OK, don’t get all excited we are just practicing!)

This is inner intimacy building, you need to want and desire things within yourself, and then practice sharing it with the woman you care for. Often what separates and keeps us alone is that we can not define within us our own self love. As gay women we are not supported or given the guidance that other partnerships may receive, often we seclude ourselves to our small lady circles and get stuck in the dysfunctional” dyke drama.” We have reputations for being reactive and angry, yet in the self help aisles their are a millions books to help heterosexual couples and maybe 5 for us ladies. There is no manual to help us understand each other, and often we have been so rejected by society, communities, and even our own families that telling someone our thoughts, dreams and needs can be frightening.

My Ladies of Columbia we may be a small community, most of us know each other or know someone that knows someone, yet a distance lays between us. What if we learn together the art of communication and intimacy and connect on a deeper level? What would be the consequence of a community of lesbians changing together. Today as a gay woman in Columbia, what can you do differently to build intimacy within yourself and the women you share this space with. I want to get to know you!

~The Lesbian Guru Please Subscribe above for future articles and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to email me at TheLesbianGuru@Gmail.com with ExaminerQ as the title or you can follow me on my Blog http://TheLesbianGuru.com! Or just Join The Lesbian Revolution of Health & Love on http://Twitter.com/TheLesbianGuru or http://Facebook.com/TheFemmeGuru

Lesbian Roar

Walking around and listening to the women of this city it is very evident that being gay in the south is no easy task. In fact most women here do not even tell their families it seems. Often ladies share that it would hurt them if there family knew they were gay, and if they are aware it’s not something that is discussed openly. There are many countries, cities, and towns on our little blue planet where we can live as proud lesbian women. We can be respected for our rights and choices as human beings.

Progress is slow, however, what are my fellow lessies doing to break down barriers and educate are neighbors? Are we all working together to change this beautiful city into a rainbow friendly town or conforming to fears and insecurities? What are the messages we are sending to our coming out girls? Are we being responsible with the way we are paving the road for our future gay women? Are we promoting and encouraging gay businesses, artist, and professionals (case in point!)?

Lesbians around Columbia should be screaming their gay pride and fighting for equal rights and opportunities. None of us should be fearful of losing our jobs, friends, respect, or possibilities because we happen to love the ladies (and yes there are a lot of lovely ladies in this town to love)!

How are we to build security with are partners, wives, or girlfriends if we are scared or even worst indifferent. It’s hard enough to have a family, a relationship, a job, keep up with bills, or raise kids without having to live in a damn cave or closet! We are a privileged minority in terms of being able to conceal our gayness, and choose who we reveal ourselves too. That does not mean we should hide behind that fact. Fear breeds fear, meaning if you are not proud of who you are, how can your children be proud of the beautifully different family they belong too. Its the differences that make us unique not our similarities, therefore the lesson should be to embrace our uniqueness, not to run away from it!

We have the SC Equality http://scequality.org, Harriet Hancock Center http://www.scpride.org/TheCenter, and Rainbow Radio http://www.rainbowradiosc.com amongst others that represent the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community but they need support to spread the word and do their job. If you want things to change (and fair enough if you’re happy as is!) you have to ask for what you want, need, and wish for!

I am a proud lesbian mother residing in the beautiful city of Columbia, rise up and roar with me!

~The Lesbian Guru 

Please Subscribe above for future articles and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to email me at TheLesbianGuru@Gmail.com with ExaminerQ as the title or you can follow me on my Blog http://TheLesbianGuru.com! Or just Join The Lesbian Revolution of Health & Love on http://Twitter.com/TheLesbianGuru or http://Facebook.com/TheFemmeGuru