Home Again

The following letter is shared with permission. It is an email by Paul Browde, a participant at the Gay Spirit Culture Summit, to the other participants, written on the day after.

Dear All,

It was a magical day today. I really looked at people. A fellow psychiatrist at the clinic where I work said to me after I told her about the summit...."thanks for the gift of your having walked into my office today". I made sure to tell the queer men I work with about our weekend.

I also stood in line in the supermarket and allowed a man in front of me. He turned to me, and said. "you are so blessed".....I asked him what he meant, and he said "your patience. There should be more like you".....and I thought "there are!!, so many more!!"

......and then tonight I saw a young man for a medication evaluation. I knew him as a queer boy immediately. I asked him, and he told me yes, but nobody knows. He hates himself. He will not go to the LGBT community centre. He will not go to the gay section in Barnes and Noble. He told his parents he was confused about his sexuality, and they sent him to a therapist whom they hoped would help him through the phase..........I listened and told him that he wasn't alone. I will see him again next Monday, and will work with him slowly, and make sure he's taken care of.....and all this against the background of starting David Nimmons Book and feeling so proud, and crying on the subway as I recognized myself and my community on those pages.

Thank you for an extraordinary experience.

Love and peaceful restorative sleeps to you all.

Paul