I must admit something.

[ccharles000]

At the start of the primary's when I was picking who I would support I did not pick Obama because of a bad moments that involved black men. When I was in high school I was constantly made fun of for being gay by two black guys and I think I subconsciously did not support Obama in the beginning because of that. I know Obama is a good man who has no bias to GLBT people and I realize I should not group all black people in the same group. I am now working on forgiving those who drove me to drop out and I will be very happy to support Obama.

[slinkerwink]

1. thank you for supporting Obama in the end!

[dddem]

2. Good for you!

Initially I didn't support Obama, because I really liked the message John Edwards was putting out there. But now that he's the nominee, he'll have my support. The fate of this country depends on all of us putting aside personal feelings, and doing what's right. Yay for you!

[Kahuna]

3. Hi Charles. I think a lot of people may feel the same way. But I hope

they will be like you and decide that the whole race shouldn't be judged by the bad behavior of a few.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. You have taken a very difficult yet vital step

to your own healing--forgiving those who hurt you so terribly. The best of luck to you in this! It is a long road, but well worth it.

[ccharles000]

12. Thanks.

[Mother Of Four]

5. ...

:hug:

[rucky]

6. I admire your courage and honesty.

Not everybody can admit, or even realize that about themselves. It's not an easy thing to reflect on, or reveal - especially to a crowd like this. I think we all have our biases - just from living and experience - but it's only wrong when we come to accept them, justify them in some way, and not try to be more aware and change them.

:yourock:

[jefferson_dem]

7. What a wonderful post.

I thank you...and, I'm sure, so would our candidate.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

8. My father is a gay, black man. Obama is a very brave man who condemned homophobia

in the church that I attended as a little girl. On Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday this year, Obama made his rounds to two black churches in Atlanta. The first, of course was Ebeneezer, and the other was a Baptist church that I grew up in that my grandmother still attends. Obama stood up in that church and spoke out bravely against homophobia. The black community still needs to do a lot to address its homophobia, which in my view, is killing us slowly. The ignorance prevails and black women are inflicted with HIV at a rate that is higher than for all other races/ethnicities combined. We must work harder to address homophobia in black America.

I applaud you for coming around and I hope that other gay/lesbian brothers and sisters will understand that Obama is not homophobic. He and most Americans still have a lot of work to do to address discrimination against gays/lesbians, but I feel that he is working on that, too. I hope that within my lifetime, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion...I hope these things will no longer be an issue.

The younger generations will show us the way.

[Hope And Change]

9. Thanks for sharing your story Charles.I`m also sad to hear what to you...

went through in high school.

:hug:

[JohnnyLib2]

10. Thanks and good for you.

Let's hope many citizens are doing some kind of self-evaluation along these lines. :thumbsup:

[NatBurner]

11. good deal

if i held everything some random white dude did to me as a youngun, i'd never vote.

i'm glad u can recognize bias for what it is and overcome it though; good for you.