yeah! what HE said!

“I wish many times that I would or could’ve shut up. But, I could just as well try not to breathe… I cannot be but as God made me.”

-Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Archbishop




when i read this, my heart skipped a beat. a little under a year ago, in a melodramatic moment during an argument, i said this in not so many, and not so eloquent, words.

i know at least one man understands me. my buddy desmond, that is.



to put his statements in context, rather than just make it all about me, tutu gave an acceptance speech tuesday night upon receiving the OUTSPOKEN award from the international gay and lesbian human rights commission.
* * *
according to my source, the san francisco bay guardian, "The theme of the evening was 'A Celebration of Courage.' Tutu is most definitely a living example of fearlessness, given his noted stand against apartheid in his native South Africa, as well as his outspoken support of female, as well as gay and lesbian, ordination in the Episcopal Church, a topic that has threatened a schism in that denomination. His fight against homophobia and sexual exclusivity in religion earned him the honors on this particular occasion."

Said Tutu during his acceptance speech, “How sad, how tragic, that the Church be so concerned with this issue when God’s children all the world over are suffering,” Tutu said. “I ask for your forgiveness for the way the Church has ostracized you.”

thanks, desi. that acknowledgment means a lot -- to me, at least.