22 December 2013 Re: Improv Comedy Workshop in Charlottesville, VA Christian, I really don't know where to begin.....I'm a little disappointed to hear about the way you feel about other men, gay men in particular. What I'm trying to say is that I just don't understand. For example, I don't hate other women because they are taking all of the guys, limiting my options. That just doesn't make any sense to me at all. Men and women are free to choose who they want to be with; there is no ownership so nobody can be "taken" against their will. The person you're attracted to has a say in whether or not they want to date you or have a relationship with you. Your gay remarks were especially hurtful because a lot of my close friends are LGBT. They are wonderful, funny, talented people, and I love them dearly. I can't imagine how anyone could find them offensive in any way, especially without meeting them first. You know that I was at the GLAM awards last night, which is a major gay event in NYC. It's a fantastic event and a lot of fun. Lots of people. LGBT and heterosexual go every year. It's one of the biggest parties of the year. http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2012/11/i_won_another_g.php I'm sorry if I sound like I'm coming down on you hard for what you said. Your remarks caught me off-balance, leaving me a little shocked and disappointed, as I said earlier. I'm trying very hard not to judge you on this since you did say that you lost your train of thought; so maybe I'm misunderstanding you. Maybe you didn't mean to phrase your remarks the way you did and you didn't realize how nasty and hateful they'd sound to someone else reading them. You never struck me as being the kind of person who would harbor these kinds of bigoted attitudes. This kind of hatred is absolutely toxic to me, and I don't want to be anywhere around it. I broke up with my last boyfriend because he turned out to be a bigot. He would make sick cruel remarks about LGBT folks in general, even going as far as to insult some of my friends right to their faces. That was the last straw for me. I ended our relationship because I just couldn't stand to be around him anymore. I was just wondering, do you have any gay or lesbian friends? A lot of people are uncomfortable around LGBT folk because they've never had any personal experience with them and the don't really know how to relate to them as people. I think that if you had a LGBT friend, your attitude would change. That's one of the things I love about living in the NYC area. People are a lot more cultured, tolerant, and accepting of alternative lifestyles. Ever day presents an opportunity to meet people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, as well as sexual preferences. I feel that I've really broadened my horizons and grown as a person since I moved out here. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about this anymore. I need to give your remarks further thought so that I can sort out my feelings about them. I'm still a bit hurt and it's going to take me some time to work through it. If I misunderstood you, that's great. I hope you'll be able to clarify what you were trying to say. If I came on a bit strong, it's because you touched a nerve. This is something I'm quite passionate about, being a big supporter of the LGBT community. I'm sorry that the improv comedy workshop won't work out for you. It looks like it's really well put together class and it would be fun. It's structured very much like my Upright Citizens Brigade classes and workshops. If you were able to do it, I think you'd make a lot of friends, boost your confidence, and have a great time. Maybe this is something you can do later on when your finances improve. It looks like this group does workshops throughout the year. Rebeckah