OurPath (formerly SSN) Open Forum / The Rainbow Serpent

**Posted by lily** March 17, 2022 7:37 pm

I was born in England - Australia is my adopted country. At one stage I read up on the Dreamtime. That's the native scriptures. They're wonderful to read, not that you can believe everything the creation stories aren't exactly literal any more than Eve being fashioned out of Adam's rib is a literal truth, we know enough biology to realise that!

The rainbow Serpent is mighty. We all ride on the back of the Rainbow Serpent.

Everyone is included. Rainbow means everybody, all of us.

To have appropriated the emblem of everyone to mean everyone except for the straights is kinda insulting isn't it?

**Posted by Ellexoh_nz** March 18, 2022 4:40 am

lily wrote:
To have appropriated the emblem of everyone to mean everyone except for the straights is kinda insulting isn't it?

Yes it is. But I think when they appropriated the rainbow they thought it was the beginning of the end...of all their pain and suffering and that *everybody would accept it. With no question
But they were so wrapped up in the need to be authentic and grow none of them knew how deep and far back this Mindfuck went and how many silent generations of straightspouses there were

**Posted by lily** March 19, 2022 1:04 pm

I used not to mind the use of the rainbow as an emblem of gayness - gay as a rainbow sounds quite cute to me. But these days it's too serious - like the rainbow is their flag. No it's not, would you want to say the sun is the emblem of straight? well it might be quite fun but not seriously, the sun is there for everyone, the rain is too and we all enter rainbow territory - where you laugh and you cry.

**Posted by Gloria** March 20, 2022 7:45 am

Even thought I had a gay boyfriend, I do not have bias against them. I do have a problem with them passing as hetrosexual. The rainbow flag is still a symbol of hate where I live.

**Posted by lily** March 20, 2022 3:31 pm

I remember when I first realised what the problem with my marriage was - that my husband was gay in denial - I thought that I had uncovered the cause of homophobia - all the pain caused by gays marrying straights.

But now I have to say even with my life in tatters thanks to Mr G.I.D and my dislike of him specifically it hasn't changed my general good feeling towards gay people. And the more I have looked I have come to believe homophobia, like the Kinsey scale, doesn't have anything to do with straight people - it has everything to do with the closet folk who feel threatened by gay feelings exposing their own.

I still love to see rainbows in the sky. They're delicate and gentle and do bring a sense of magic and reconciliation, made as they are from the sun and the rain.

**Posted by walkbymyself** March 22, 2022 3:43 pm

When I first discovered my husband's secret, the only person I could really trust was a gay male friend. I think it was because he knew just exactly how exploitive these older white married closeted men could be, particularly when they were preying on much younger boys. Other people immediately went to the narrative about how my husband must come from a homophobic family, or live in a conservative area, or work in a homophobic industry. Wrong on all counts. My husband was in love with the idea of having a secret double life. He was perfectly happy with everything exactly the way it was.

My gay friend was the one who really understood how exploitive these men are towards much younger prostitutes. He was the only one who really knew how damaging these intergenerational relationships could get, how out of balance they are.

Last edited by walkbymyself (March 22, 2022 3:43 pm)

**Posted by lily** March 23, 2022 7:33 am

same here, walkby - it was my young gay friend who understood my ex the best right from the start, and recognised I had been gaslighted,

His initial response was to get w bit excited, I think he hoped he'd get the validation of his gay feelings that he couldn't get from his own dad. It was painful to watch him attempt to befriend my ex as a gay man and support him in getting out of the closet - as I knew would happen, his overtures were rejected, my ex had no intention whatsoever of leaving his nice comfy closet.

**Posted by Ellexoh_nz** March 24, 2022 4:11 pm

I can no longer see it as a serpent.
Or rather I must be prepared to....hide my true feelings? about the triggers I have. I now have to be supportive because my teen grandson has come out as questioning (is the correct term I think)
My head is spinning a bit even though I've had suspicions and there's a bit of a tug o' war going on though it's an ironic bemusement at the situation.
But I would rather he deal with this now rather than hold onto a secret for years, and if that means keeping my own secret from him I guess that is my path.

Elle

**Posted by Gloria** March 25, 2022 7:46 am

Elle/Kia it is good that you are being supportive of your grandson and hopefully he can figure out his sexuality. I wish you and him the best of luck.

**Posted by lily** March 26, 2022 5:44 pm

The intergenerational thing is tricky isn't it, Elle - if the gay parent is staying in the closet then there's every chance of major family rifts happening if you speak up. I'm not entirely sure how I manage to stay silent but I do, on the other hand I speak up about my own circumstance of finding out my husband was G.I.D.