[tarotbear]

LWB:"Self-acceptance must come before liberation. Freedom from others' expectations. Pride. So, is this the antithesis for the 'Self-Hatred card #15' ?

I'm sure many straight people do not see the gay community as factional - that gay people are gay people. The gay community is just as rife with factions as any other community; our gayness does not necessarily connect us. Unfortunately, what defines us also separates us, and sometimes that goes beyond understanding. Drag queens are seen as 'too gay' - leathermen are seen as 'too butch' - and what is this 'bears' and 'radical faeries' subgroup stuff? Sometimes the differences get so overdone that you wish the statements like 'Pride and Diversity' were really true.

The gay community is facing some of its toughest challenges; many 'religious right' groups (and the current president- El Wimpo) want us to go back into our closets and stay there. If we can set our differences aside and work together as a community we can confront the opposition - but it's hard to get people to accept us when we can't accept ourselves.

wow- tarotbear can really get on a soapbox about this stuff, can't he?

[Elentir]

There's nothing wrong with being on a soapbox; but you are certainly preaching to the converted, in this case.

This image seems a bit of a stretch to me. Seems like it would have been more appropriate for Justice (notwithstanding Lee's quite striking and effective rendering of that card with a much darker, more sinister energy). I guess I'm jaded, because I was quite the gay activist when I was at Berkeley in my early twenties, and now that seems just so long ago and far away. This image struck me as kind of "queer" in a touchy-feely, corny, almost cliché-ed sort of way.

On the other hand, it reminds me that there were two important things about participating in political rallies and demonstrations in those days. Obviously, it was important to make our voices heard and send a strong message to the world: "We're here, we're queer, get used to it!" However, there was a rather more personal but no less important meaning to the experience: it was the first time in my life when I could be as "out loud" as I wanted to be; it was personal expression of pride in myself and joy for being what I am. It was about publicly throwing off the oppression of growing up ignorant of who I was, and saying "" (expletive) to the rest of the world.

In this regard, I am reminded how much the Judgment card is about liberation and redemption, and then Lee's version makes a little more sense to me.

[rainwolf]

I think that is very true that people ASSUME (hate that word), that all gay people are all the same, and is what pisses me off the most. Just because two people are gay doesnt mean they have a lot in common. Now to respond to topic LOL--i can somewhat agree with this interpretation because in a sense, we have to not care about what others think about the subject or their expectations, because our personal life and decisions (#20) are what really matter, regardless of what we want to believe.

Update:
I feel drawn to the moon, what the hell is that supposed to mean?!