LGBTQ Message: Just Be Yourself

I have one thing to say about the UC Main Campus LGBTQ organization: Fantastic! It felt very powerful being in a room full of such diversity. With members of the community, as well as allies and others, such as myself, there for the first time to be "initiated," it was a memorable experience.
I had no idea how many different definitions there are in the community, nor did I realize the depth to which the society in which one lives affects a person's sexual identity and proclivity. I suppose all the ideas presented were more or less plain to see, but that is the whole thing: once we become so native in an environment, the social norms of that particular society become engrained in us, usually at such a young age that we don't really get a chance to second-guess or analyze their effects on us-unless a group such as this opens our eyes to the conditioning we all receive, each day.
I personally believe that we all have a bit of sexual curiosity in us-not that this implies we all have an underlying, behavioral philanderer just waiting to be enlightened and pop into Austin Powers's bedroom.
It just means that curiosity is a human trait, something that each of us has. And sexuality is a human trait, one of the most dominant of them all.
Thus, it is natural and perhaps can even be expected that we may have curious thoughts. No woman can deny ever finding another woman cute or attractive.
And another point made during the meeting was that attraction completely transcends sexuality. For example, people can also be asexual, meaning they do not have actual sexual desires, but they can still form and hold deep, romantic connections without ever engaging in explicit sexual activity.
In other words, attraction, which is what guides us all throughout life, is not at all synonymous with sex or sexual preference. Being attracted to a scent on a person does not mean you want to have sex with that person. Such a thought is absurd and laughable.
Or imagine being attracted to a car or a pet. Think of haunted attractions or attractions at a movie theatre or theme park. It is possible to have attraction to something without wanting to become sexually intimate with it.
And I believe that each of us has some of that in us. I think men do, too, but as was also discussed in the meeting, men seem to have a much bigger issue with conveying that attraction.
The tasteless word "no homo" was one example of this-how men and some women as well will say, "No homo," after kindly paying a compliment to someone of the same sex, to convey that they do not want to have sex with them.
Ideas such as these are absurd and lead to horrible stereotypes and generalizations. It is okay to find someone of the same sex attractive and to verbalize that idea without fear of being labeled something by which you would not label yourself.
And that is another point discussed in the group. Basically, don't restrict yourself to an idea that may prove too confining for you. And don't be afraid to pull out those clothes from your closet that you thought were a little too "flamboyant."
Just be yourself. You have to appreciate and respect anybody who can encourage those values and goals in you.