A little bit of philosophy

Life as a woman, as a lesbian, in the 21st Century is a lot easier than it was 100, or so, years ago, but even now there are difficulties that our generation is still facing.

For those of us still semi-closeted, and the offspring of adults from the Baby Boom of the 1950's, it can be very difficult to find the will and motivation to un-closet ourselves, especially to our old-fashioned parents. I personally haven't 'come-out' to my parents yet, and I am still struggling to find a good reason to do it at all.

However, technology as we know it offers young gay people easier and more carefree means of 'coming out' to difficult people. MySpace and MSN are two popular methods that I have used to 'come-out' to close friends and family.

But for some the acceptance and 'coming-out' process is only the beginning, the actual being gay part can be the hardest.

Throughout history there is evidence of homosexuality being an accepted practice. In Classical Greece homosexuality was praised, and the Greek Poet, Sapphos of Lesbos, gave her name to Lesbianism. Likewise, in Confucian China homosexuality was tolerated and flourished, with lesbianism being common in the woman's quarters, up until the early 19th Century.

Thankfully, now in the 21st Century, it is still legal to be a homosexual in Greece and China, and most parts of the world. Though, there are still too many countries in which homosexuality is considered illegal, a few of these countries are Libya, Morocco and Mozambique in Africa, India, Singapore and Malaysia in Asia, and Cuba, Chile and Ecudor in the Americas.

Even though being gay is legal in a number of countries there are still laws which hinder the rights of gay and lesbian people. There are only a handful of countries in America and Europe whom have legalized same sex marriage, these countries include Canada, Norway, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, the adoption of a child by a same sex couple is very rarely legal, even in wealthier countries, such as England and the USA.

We have come a long way since the beginning of our fight for rights in the early 1950's, buy we still have a long way to go before we are truly equal to our heterosexual counterparts.