Kay:
Hey, hey, Questers welcome back. Today is a day to celebrate. It is the final day of Pride Month where we celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and in celebration of this special month we have a quote from Jason Collins who says, “Openness may not completely disarm prejudice but it’s a good place to start.”
Shi:
Jason Collins, an American, former professional basketball player, was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association in the NBA. He played college basketball for Stanford where he was an All-American back in the early 2000s. So, a well-lauded sports figure and a well-spoken advocate here for our LGBTQ+ communities, and on this last day of Pride Month, it was important to us to bring forward a quote like this to help talk about this important subject.
Kay:
Well, I want to do a shout out here on the final day of Pride Month to my partner Danny, who here in 2021 has embraced their full selves and came out as non-binary. It’s been amazing to see the rising tide of gender fluidity happening across the world as we just begin to realize that maybe our closed off-ness was creating prejudice where openness like Jason Collins tells us may have disarmed it in the first place.
Shi:
Well, it’s been such a joy to see Danny really become more of his true self and be able to express in a way that is just so beautiful and so much more dimensional and has added a lot more value. I know as a couple that initially this was obviously a big change and may be difficult to navigate but it sure didn’t seem like it took long before all of the benefits of someone living their full truth came to light and now it’s a hundredfold. Your relationship is thriving. Your daughter is thriving, Danny is thriving and both of you just seem happier than I’ve seen in quite some time.
Kay:
Well, you can only love another person at the capacity with which you love yourself and when you’ve closed yourself off to an entire portion of who you are it creates internal prejudice. So, even openness, not necessarily to other people but openness to yourself can create internal prejudice and create real harm within your own internal system, because you’re finding reasons to prejudge your own self before you give yourself a chance to attempt to be everything and everyone that you are.
Shi:
Now, when we talk about openness, I love this concept here but sometimes it can feel a little fluid in and of itself. So, when I think of openness, I really think of that ability to be flexible, that ability to consider other points of view, that ability to not stay rigidly dedicated to maybe beliefs and values and thoughts and ideas that you grew up with or that you’ve previously held. There have been lots of times in my life where I was just convicted, full of conviction about something that I believed in, and as time has gone on, and I reflect, I can see that had I been more open in some of those instances, I would have better relationships, some saved friendships, some easier to navigate conversations and confrontations. So, openness it’s not the end-all be-all here and there is no end-all be-all, but it is a great place to start as Jason tells us when it comes to disarming prejudice because prejudice is really those thoughts in our mind that end up if we carry them out, become discrimination.
Kay:
We heard a distinction once between tolerance and openness that I thought was really powerful where you can be at the level of tolerating something or someone, but to be truly open to them means that you’re open to a different point of view, which means you’re open to internal change within yourself. So, I’m so glad Shi that you kind of brought up that there’s dimension there to openness and that it really, isn’t just about tolerating what’s in front of you. It’s about being open to changing and what I love that Jason says here is that he’s really talking in the face of prejudice. It doesn’t totally disarm prejudice to say that you’re open, but it is a good place to start because if you can start with an openness that can lead to a discussion which can lead to change and understanding.
Shi:
Now before I give you the quote again for today and close us out, I do have to take a minute to say that I am very proud of my husband as well, but not because he is on the spectrum here, but because today is our 15-year wedding anniversary, and I am very proud to be his wife and so proud of the life that we’ve built together. So, honey, I know you listen or read the transcripts so happy anniversary to you, and I love you very much. To remind all of our LA audience and our listeners here, Jason Collins tells us “Openness may not completely disarm prejudice but it’s a good place to start.
Kay:
Alrighty, gang. Today, we have a Pride Quest for you and on our Pride Month, we want you to practice openly sharing something you feel vulnerable about revealing. You only have to share it with one other person, and it can be any person, but we want you to get out there and be open and vulnerable with at least one other person today. Are you ready? You know what to say…
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
