Bridging The Divide (June 18, 2018)

We talk about peace

With a spiritual holiness

Bordering on

Religious faith.

And yet

At the same time

We fill our lives

With a dogmatic violence

In harming others

Who appear different.

I say this

As a person

Who has experienced

LGBTQ+ bashing

For being too feminine

Living in a male body.

Attacking me

For being a gay male

And transgender

Simultaneously.

(When most people

Didn't know

What the term

Transgender meant.)

In being jeered

As a “c--k sucker”

“Momma’s boy"

To a “f---ing sissy.”

And that's

Only the polite terms

I had hurled

By kids and adults

Alike.

Please don't delude yourself

This type of labelling

Has stopped

In the past half century

Since the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

There's a reason

Why Toronto's Gay village

Has banks of payphones

Directly linked to

An emergency operator.

Although

With the arrival

And spread of cellphones

Need for these banks

Has lessened.

Still

The root causes

Of this hate

Is alive and well

In fear and ignorance.

That'll never disappear

As long as

Humanity exist.

However

We may wish.

Therisa © 2018

Author's note: Within the week, people, whether they identity as gay or straight, trans or cis, will be lining Toronto's Gay village for the 38th annual Pride parade. Although, I may complain about Pride Toronto, this is a constructive and healing way to bridge the gap of ignorance and fear, with love. Besides, no one has ever died, from attending Toronto's Pride events.

Another poem for this year's Pride Poetry.

Pride's Meaning (June 25, 2018)

It's June 25th

Toronto's Pride celebrations

Are wrapping up

As the month ends

In 5 days time

Before Canada Day (July 1st).

A celebration

At its heart

Acknowledges the darkness

That we

The LGBTQ+ community faces

On multiple fronts.

Where love is

Openly displayed and used

As a weapon for change

By a community

That knows death and pain

All too well.

Despite the multi-billions of dollars

Spent on HIV/AIDS research

We haven't found an universal cure

Or vaccine.

Although

We've developed drugs

That allows those Infected

To live long and productive lives

Today.

In 72 countries

Still illegal

For gay men

And straight transwomen

To have sex.

Or that

In 8 countries

It's a death sentence

For being true

To one self.

Never mind

In an open country

Like Canada

Problems still exist.

For the second straight year

Toronto Police Service

Been politely told

Their uniformed or float presence

Isn't welcomed.

Rooted

In deep historical reasons

That affects all parts

Of the LGBTQ+ community.

Magnified by

The police handling

Of Bruce McArthur’s

Alleged career

As the mass murderer

Of 8 gay men.

Especially

As these deaths started

A few years after

The Infamous bathhouse raids

Sparking Toronto's original

Pride parade (in 1981).

It may take several months

Even years

After the public inquiry

And a possible second apology

From Toronto's police

For true healing to happen.

Before uniformed officers

And Police Service’s floats appear

In future Toronto's Pride parades

Spraying parade celebrants

With toy water guns

Once more.

Therisa © 2018

Author’s note: another poem, as part of this year’s Pride Poetry.

The Little Engine That Did (June 25, 2018)

oo often

We are

The LGBTQ+ community’s

Forgotten child

Who helps everyone else

To get their rights recognized

By society.

In 1966

Three years prior

To the Stonewall Riots

San Francisco’s transcommunity

Fired the very first shots

For LGBTQ+ rights

At the Compton Cafeteria Riots.

Even then

At New York’s Stonewall Riots

We “manned" the front lines

Fighting beside our gay brothers.

And now

On June 22, 2018

Toronto's transcommunity marks

The 10th anniversary

Of the Trans March

At Toronto Pride.

A right

We fought for

Just like Canada's enshrining

Of legal protection

For the transcommunity

Under Canadian law

In June 2017.

Taking to the streets

Without recognition

From the Pride Toronto committee

In 2009.

For four Toronto Prides

We marched

Demanding our right

As part of Toronto's LGBTQ+

Community.

Until 2013

When Pride Toronto

Acknowledged us

As part of the community.

Even now

The struggle continues

For true equality

Within Toronto's LGBTQ+

Community.

As we fight

For ethnic diversity.

In realizing

That Toronto is

A multicultural city

Within the LGBTQ+ community

Is a part of.

Therisa © 2018

Author’s note: Another poem for this year’s Pride Poetry.

United - Strong (June 24, 2018)

Overhead

Gathering storm clouds form

The darkening sky mirrors

A troubled soul

Seeking answers and safety.

While neither exist

Beyond a brief moment

Like a lightning flash

In the distance horizon

Before vanishing.

Sudden downpour

From the heavens above

Like long suppressed tears

Held in check

Soak the parched land

Needing fluids and healing.

From a world that views it

Visible sign of weakness

By a diseased soul

In need of correction

At any costs.

Destroying the soul

That's fought over

In the healing process

Vainly preserving

Society's false status quo.

At what price

Does the cost outweighs

The cure’s end?

As the coroner pulls away

Loaded with the remains

Of another victim

From society’s homophobia

And racism.

Therisa © 2018

Author's note: I started writing this poem, on the rainy Sunday morning of Toronto's Pride parade (June 24, 2018). As they honour the 8 confirmed gay male victims of alleged mass murderer, Bruce McArthur. While Toronto Police Service say, there may be more victims and charges, before the investigation is done.

Another poem for this year’s  Pride Poetry.

Just A Dream? (June 23, 2018)

For one weekend

Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s dream

Is alive and breathing

For all to see.

Regardless

Of one's gender sexuality

Or ethnicity.

We gather to celebrate

Diversity and harmony

Of the human spirit

In overcoming barriers

That society puts before us.

By reveilling

Our innermost feelings

Of identity and self-acceptance

Who we are

As a greater society

And individuals.

Where love isn't

Just a word found

In greeting cards

Wedding ceremonies

Or to religious sermons.

Rather

An expression

From within

A beacon fulfilling us

With hope.

Enabling society

To overcome hate

And ignorance

That threaten

To consume us.

Therisa © 2018

Author's note: Maybe, I am a hopeless romantic, who dreams of a brighter future than the bleak present, we live in. Where it's so easy to be depressed and indifferent to the problems around us.

Another poem for this year’s Pride Poetry.