Like most bisexuals, I truly hate and avoid being political when it comes to my sexual life.  Like most bisexuals, I get my pleasure when and where I can, struggle with being honest with myself and others, and prepare myself as best I can for facing the consequences of my actions. As a bisexual, I do not judge others because I do not want them to judge me. But it is time to leave the cocoon and speak out, to be compassionate, and to care for the well-being of my brothers and sisters in their LGBTQ communities.

Make no mistake, Trump and the extreme-conservative movement is a threat to the rights and freedoms of some American citizens, and if some of us are affected, we all are effected in the end. I was most troubled, and therefore motivated to say something, by a news story today about four journalists who were arrested for covering the so-called inaugural day riot in Washington. We need the truth. Journalists are not always angels but at least they need to be able to present their views of the truth so that we have their information to use in our own decision making.

My wife is German and when she sees what is happening, it takes her back to her roots in Germany that led to the deaths of two uncles as soldiers in the German army, the loss of health for her father, and the imprisonment of her grandfather in a concentration camp for his socialist views. I am also reminded of the imprisonment and subsequent deaths of thousands of gay men who did not fit the mold of the macho, Aryan, German male.

Make no mistake – hate is a vicious master that will gobble up everyone in its path including the ones with the guns.  We have to stop hate now before it is too late. There are two ways to stop hate – by fighting it or by loving it to death. I prefer the second method. This means being aware of the problem but looking past the actors and role players to the root cause. We are all fragmented and played like a fine violin into believing there is “us and them”. But we are all part of the same family. We need to show compassion for our fellow LGBTQers on one hand while engaging in honest and caring dialogue with the conservatives on the other hand. We are not enemies – we have nothing to fear from each other. We have to persistently state our case in a caring and loving way and eventually the truth will break through the covering of lies and hate before us.