When I say my brother and his wife are heterosexual, that doesn't mean I'm talking about their sex lives. Likewise, when we say someone is gay, we're talking about sexual orientation, not their sexual activity.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the difference between sexual orientation and sexual activity in discussions about identity.
Vito Russo addresses the misconception that discussing someone's sexual orientation, such as being heterosexual or gay, inherently involves their sexual activities or intimate lives. He highlights the importance of understanding that sexual orientation is about identity and attraction, rather than the explicit details of sexual behavior, which often leads to misunderstandings and misplaced judgments about individuals.
In practice
In a discussion about LGBTQ+ rights, this quote can help clarify the importance of understanding sexual orientation.
Whether we appreciate it or not, we live out our lives surrounded by an intricate pattern of social connections... We're all embedded in this network; it affects us profoundly and we may be unaware of its existence, of its effect on us.
Just because some people are fueled by drama doesn't mean you have to attend the performance.
Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts ... good relationships feel good. They feel right. They don't hurt. They're not painful. That's not just with somebody you want to marry, but it's with the friends that you choose. It's with the people you surround yourselves with.
The one joy that has kept me going through life has been the fact that stories unite us. To see you as you listen to me now, as you have always listened to me, is to know this: what I can believe, you can believe. And the way we all see our story-not just as Irish people but as flesh and blood individuals and not the way people tell us to see it-that's what we own, no matter who we are and where we come from.
Anybody who doesn't make you feel good, kick them to the curb. And the earlier you start in your life, the better.
The words with which a child's heart is poisoned, whether through malice or through ignorance, remain branded in his memory, and sooner or later they burn his soul.
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