Got Hope? Harvey Milk

I really hope that this movie opens in theatres here, even though I doubt it.



A few days before the election there was a newspaper article about homosexuality in politics and how there are out politicians in only two of the five parties. The article also talked about one party in particular, the 'ÖVP' - liberal conservatism, liberal when it comes to economic topics - which has several LGB members who are simply not out (no names were mentioned, but they had a source from within the party). While this is no surprise to me, I still hate the fact that if they were out and if we had a real discussion about gay rights, the situations in Austria could already be different.

In Austria, gay bashing and people being killed because they are gay doesn't happen often. The discrimination is more subtle and while people say the PC things they feel differently and if you get into discussions with them then their real opinion is often revealed. Homosexuality is still a social stigma and apart from being out and proud, there isn't much I can do about this. I think that changing laws can lead to a change in the public opinion and I think if LGB politicians within the ÖVP were more open, the position of the party in general might change as well.

I was genuinely surprised when I was at home a few weeks ago and my dad told me "I want you to have children. I don't know how, but I want that to happen." My parents think that having children is one main mission in life and my dad gave up some of his goals in order to be there for us kids. He was always very involved and while my parents were strict and expected us to live by the rules, they also were loving and definitely gave us many opportunities that other children don't have. When I came out to them over two years ago, they were shocked and it took them some time to deal with it, but they immediately told me that they loved me no matter what. At that time, I was still toying with the idea of having 4 kids and my mom told me "Well, this idea of having 4 kids id dead now." When I told her that I still wanted kids, she made it clear that she thought a child should have a father and a mother. And now they are telling me they want me to have kids, even if it means that these kids will grow up without a father. I am proud of them and the fact that they have evolved enough to see that I haven't changed since I came out to them. I am still the same person and if they thought I should have kids before they knew and they think so again, this shows how much having a LGBT-child can change someone's opinion. (The fact that I don't know whether I even still want kids is a whole different story and might come with a different post one day.)