I began posting these way back in March, 2007, and they're among the earliest videos I posted on Youtube (actually anywhere). Essentially, I was telling a story about scenarios that were already twenty, thirty, and forty plus years in the past. Basically, all I did was complete a few LONG recording sessions, and I broke them all up into segments lasting ten minutes or less.
I was new at Youtube. I was new at video making. I used my PC, a Logicam webcam, Microsoft Movie Maker of the day, and a synthesizer I purchased way back in 1985. Basically, the only editing I did was add some cheesy "music," add some scripts, and, as I already mentioned, divide the videos into short segments. I did all the talking impromptu. What my camera recorded is what I posted.
Often, I've felt embarrassed by the "production values" of these videos. I've thought about doing the series all over again. Many of the videos are just plain boring. That "music" is so........... YIKES! But, obviously, I decided to keep them posted as they are, because they form a part of my Youtube history as well as my larger life history, and I just didn't want to sugar coat all that.
My initial purpose for posting videos on Youtube was to make contact with my children who I had not seen in over a decade. I won't explain why here. I'll simply say that it worked. My children found my videos and began making contact.
If you watch any of these videos, please bear in mind the following:
1. I was speaking only for myself, and I was relying on my own memory.
2. The scenarios I've talked about in the video happened many years before I ever made the videos, and I posted them way back in 2007.
3. Yes, I was being selfish.
4. Figuring out ones sexual identity (when it wasn't heterosexual), coming to terms with it, and coming out have often been very difficult processes for many individuals all around the world. Can you imagine what it might've been like before the days of Internet?
5. LGBT individuals didn't just suddenly appear on earth in the twentieth century! They've been in every culture in every place on planet earth -- South America, remote islands in every ocean, Australia, China, India.... even in places where homosexuals are executed publically... for more centuries than we really know. Not every culture has condemned LGBT individuals. Some cultures have always accepted them and have always harmonized them within their societies.
6. Each LGBT person has a story to tell. Generally, their stories are not cold dispassionate academic narratives. Even though, each person might tell his / her story differently each time, even though he / she might vary some details each time he / she tells the story, chances are the essential substance of the story won't be changed. "Listening to understand," as often and as much as possible, I would bet are the most important keys towards peace making with LGBT individuals and individuals who've become their friends and supporters.
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