Tonight I realized I am angry with the U.S. and now I feel guilty for it.

[foreigncorrespondent]

Long story, but I will try to cut as short as I can. Mostly because it is 3:20am for me, and I am not thinking too clearly.

Anyway, tonight I decided to go play over at pogo.com for a while. It helps gets my mind of my worries, plus hanging in the rainbow rooms, I meet a lot of good queers across the world.

Tonight I met a fellow Aussie, who happens to be living about 20 minutes away from me. So we started to talk, and this third person was chatting with us as well. This third person is from the United States, so we got talking about politics and stuff.

During our conversation we got talking about gay rights, and the rights Austalia has given to its LGBT community compared to what you guys get in the U.S.

It was while talking about this, and the hardship that Sappho and I face I regular basis I realized just how angry I am at the United States. And of course having this sudden realiazation it has guilted me out.

I love the U.S. I have always wanted to be there, since I was a young kid. Of course meeting Sappho and falling in love topped it off for me. I mean, I was already in love with the country, but having someone to share that love with just made it more special.

The reason I am so angry is because the U.S. won't let me be with the woman I love, when she needs me for than ever.

Sappho is having a really hard time because of her mum's illness and stuff, and I can't be there to help her through what she is going through.

I try and be as supportive as I possibly can from a distance of 8,000 miles, but the computer and telephone can only do so much, ya know?

I am hurt that the only reason the United States doesn't like me is because I am a lesbian. I also hurt by the fact that the U.S. claims to offer the same immigration policy to countries that those countries offer their citizens. Yet my country as well as fourteen other countries allow for same sex immigration, yet the U.S. doesn't. To me, that is not offering the same immigration policy, period.

I was there when 9/11 happened. Sappho's sister lives in NYC, so it was very hard for us. I experienced first hand the bomb threats that were happening in SF two days later. I shared your countries pain with you. I cried with you. I got angry with you. And when the towers fell, they took a piece of me with them, as well.

I am very dedicated to your country, but I don't know how to deal with this anger, and further, the guilt I am now dealing with because of the anger.

Are my feelings of anger unjustified?

(Going to bed now, so I will check back on this thread tomorrow, if I drift off If not I will be back shortly. Thanks in advance DU, for the support.)

[wryter2000]

1. I'm straight

So I don't have to deal with the same issues you do. But I'm angry, too. I'm furious! I love this country, and it's been hijacked by mean, small-minded people. Direct your anger at the morons in charge and let fly. Then, dump that guilt. It isn't wrong to be angry at people who are ruining a county you love.

[Monte Carlo]

2. The U.S., I think you need to seperate the good from the bad...

... in a country of 300 million, you shouldn't expect to like or be liked by everyone. That does not mean you aren't an American, just like anybody else.

Michael Moore had a chapter in ''Dude, Where's My Country?'' where he talks a bit about the toleration of this country. Without getting into too much detail, the United States is one of the most tolerant countries on the planet. We allow any and all religious practice here, we allow any and all ethnicities in the nation to become citizens equally as readily, and we see homosexuality as just another facet of human sexuality and not an abomination. The problem, to generalize grossly, is that the reactionaries who call themselves conservatives have resorted to desperate measures. They have created an opposite truth to counter the inevitable, and reinforce it at every opportunity. It's how they've managed to gain control now, but nothing stops evolution. In the not-too-distant future, Bush-style 'conservatism' is going to go the way of the dodo.

I sympathize with your anger. Don't worry about your feelings being justified (when do feelings ever need a good reason for their being?). America has it's problems right now, and has a great deal of superstition to get over when it comes to homosexuality, but this is still a nation with strong roots, and things are changing. Good people are working to make sure that they do.

[Rattlesnake]

3. Your anger for my country is justified...as well as my anger.

With the Republican assholes running this country, it's gone all the way down to hell...dragging everyone here and all over the world with it.

The way this country treats people who are "different" pisses me off. I would love to see things changed. I hope they do come November.

You shouldn't feel guilty for your anger one bit. I don't. Hopefully you will feel much better when you wake up. :) :hug:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. You have a right to be angry at stupid policies

Back when I was in academia, I saw situations in which glbt professors from overseas would come here on visiting appointments of one to three years, fall in love with a colleague or someone in the community, and, unlike a straight person who fell in love with a U.S. citizen, have no legal way to stay with their love.

Having been involved in an international relationship myself (with a visiting professor from, of all places, Australia), I know that if the relationship had been more committed (which it wasn't, in the end), either of us could have easily gotten the other immigration rights through marriage.

It's not fair, and I hope you can work something out.

[TOhioLiberal]

5. Hey now........

Don't feel guilty...Its a normal reaction to the small minded bigots that populate the once fine executive branch of the US government...Geez now I'M getting mad :grr:

Anyway, don't sweat it have a :hug: from Toledo, Ohio. If you see me on Pogo, say hi! My s/n is Trekkerlass_1701..

Later!
Trekkerlass