“Praise God for creating diversity in our world.”
October 30, 2014
I transferred into San Diego State University as a junior in the fall of 1978 after receiving an AA from El Camino Junior College. I couldn’t be more excited as I was moving away from home, away from my parents, and moving into a dorm room on the 9th floor where only upper classmen were allowed. My parents dropped me off at the dorm on a Sunday afternoon and after we moved everything into my room, they wished me good luck, told me how much they loved me, and drove off. Now the fun would begin. I didn’t know a soul and my roommate hadn’t moved in but I soon started meeting people.
Oh by the way, the dorm was coed where the boys and girls lived on the same floor, but segregated of sorts. I met Lynn (full name Lyndon) who was a tall good looking male with a mustache that had moved onto the 8th floor (8th & 9th floors were connected by an indoor stairway) and we hit it off from the get go. A dance was scheduled before school was to start so a bunch of us decided to go. About 15 of us got all dressed up in spandex and whatever else we could find that exemplified the DISCO era and excitedly went to the dance. Lynn was a real good dancer and he led me through some pretty crazy disco moves.
The group immediately became very close and we would all meet up for lunch and dinner in the Eating Hall. Lynn was so friendly, easy to talk to, and was so generous. He was majoring in Special Education similar to Lori a girl I met who was majoring in Elementary Education. Lynn and Lori became an item after about 2 months of living in the dorm and they seemed perfect for each other. I did notice that Lynn had a flamboyance about him but he was dating my good friend and didn’t think much more about it. Lori and I later moved into an apartment together and she and Lynn continued to date for about 2 1/2 years.
After we all graduated, I moved back up to LA, Lynn and Lori broke up, but they both remained in San Diego to start their careers in Education. Lynn came and stayed with me a couple of times about a year after we graduated and we continued to stay in touch as best as we could. Then I got a call from Lori and she said that she heard that Lynn came out as gay. She said he was so afraid to tell me seeing that I went to church and thought I would reject him.
That actually hurt my feelings because I always suspected he might be gay but it didn’t matter to me and I loved him for him. He finally called me and told me he was gay and said he was afraid to tell me. I told him it didn’t matter to me and that I kind of always suspected it. He met Duane in 1984 and they later moved in with each and have been together ever since. We lost touch with each other for a few years but have reconnected and have visited with them when Lizzie and I go to San Diego for a various reasons (soccer, soccer & more soccer…).
Last summer was their 30 year anniversary together, Duane retired, and it was Duane’s 65th birthday so they had a big party and I attended. When Lynn introduced me to a group of his friends, he said “this is my college friend Laura and she knew me when I dated women.”
I love Lynn and Duane and I consider Lynn one of my best friends. I am so glad I have him in my life. Every girl needs a gay male friend. God created them as they are and God loves them equally as he loves everyone else. I love WUMC for being a Reconciling Church spearheading this revolution and breaking down the barriers. Praise God for creating diversity in this world. If everyone were the same, how boring would that be?