No matter what meaning, if any, someone personally holds in Christmas, it is usually a time to get together with friends and family.
It can be a painful time for those who have been rejected by their family because of their sexual orientation or choice in patner(s). LGBT people, poly people, and those in consanguineous, intergenerational, or interracial relationships may be reminded this time of year that even their own family hates them.
Some people make the best of this and get together with others who do not condemn them for being themselves, trying to ignore the hurt inflicted by some of their own family.
I have words for anyone who has driven away or banned someone in their family because of that other family member’s orientation or partner(s): Shame on you. You don’t have to like your family member’s sexuality or how they live. But you should reach out to them and support them instead of driving them away. Every person in your family does things you don’t like. Why single out a family member for punishment because of who they love? If your family member has a partner whose family is more accepting, guess who is going to win? Guess who is going to get to play with the grandkids/nieces/nephews? Not you.
If you can’t go “home” for Christmas, and you are feeling down and you haven’t managed to make plans with friends, consider doing so. Chances are, you know some other people who either can’t go home or would rather spend Christmas with you.
Things are looking up for the New Year. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is going to be the kind of history we look back on like segregation, thankful that it was done away with. The same-sex freedom to marry will likely advance in the US federal courts. The polygamous freedom to marry may advance in the Canadian courts.
So let’s look forward to the New Year and keep moving towards Full Marriage Equality!
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