Fearfully, Awkwardly Avoiding the Gay: My Experience With SSA

What were your early impressions of the word "Gay?"

At a young age, I suppose I didn't understand it. I was a bookworm and a recluse, preferring my family, social only in so far as I was dragged by sibling into street hockey and kickball at first, and then later social among only extremely comfortable friends. As a home-schooler, I was outside of mainstream school culture, and understood words not by their slang meanings, but dictionary definitions. Gay was very much still slang when my generation was growing up, so as a non-insider, I'd hear the word 'gay' and assume it meant "merry."

My first introduction to another possible definition was on the basketball courts near my home. My older brothers' friends constantly teased me, as part-and-parcel of their duty and loyalty to my elder bros. Something which I accepted in stride (while pugnaciously fighting it back.) Smack talk was passed back and forth as much as the basketball, and amidst it, someone called me "gay," asking if I was a "lesbian."

Why I'm Catholic: Because I've Found the Mark

Elizabeth Scalia, a blogger over at Patheos' "Catholic Channel," challenged Catholics all over the internet to share their reasons for staying aboard the Barque of st Peter. It's a beautiful mission, and the idea is to fill the social media with love for Mother Church and where she leads us!

Well, I'm a cradle Catholic, like many Catholics are, and my upbringing in the faith, although necessarily incomplete (its just too large to shove into one human childhood!) strong elements of Catholic life have always been present in my family. Though at the time I couldn't have understood why, my parents pulled myself, and my two older brothers out of school, when I was six or seven years old. Instead, they homeschooled us, and I think that was a major blessing in terms of fostering faith. I was enamored with Christ, especially as a kid.