You Bet Your Butt I Do

A few days ago, I received an email from someone who heard me speak at two separate events a couple of years ago ... events, I might add, that were completely unrelated and that took place months apart from each other. That in and of itself is random, I think ... the same person being in attendance at two events that were held for entirely different reasons for entirely different audiences at entirely different locations in entirely different parts of the city. And it's even more random that the person would remember me and contact me all this time later and ask me to participate as a panel speaker at an upcoming citywide event for mental health professionals. And it's way, way, way, way, way random that she asked me to specifically address a topic I've only spoken indirectly about in the past. That's a lot of randomness, and honestly, when that much randomness contains an undeniable connection, it scares the living crap out of me.

Since that amount of randomness wasn't enough to last me for a while, add to it that right around the same time, I received several emails from different people that contained a link to an article in the Washington Post. All of the emails said basically the same thing: "You need to read this." I just went back and counted ... 27 random emails from 27 random people who've never met each other. Twenty-seven random people who live in different countries who hold different beliefs concerning some of the heated issues of our time who all felt compelled within a few short hours of each other to send me the same link with the same instructions. Oh, and by the way, guess how many of those random people I personally know? Two. Let me say that again ... I personally know only two of them ... two out of 27. Combine that level of randomness with the randomness of the speaking request ... Freaks. Me. Out. 

The topper was that a few days before the speaking request email and the emails containing the link to the article, I had conversations on two different days with two different people from completely different backgrounds who are at completely different stages and places in life and who have never met one another and most assuredly never will. Two conversations with two very different people in two very different locations under two very different sets of circumstances ... nothing random or weird about that, right? No, of course not ... absolutely nothing random or weird about that at all. Except for the tiny little fact that both of my friends said the same things to me ... almost word for word. I remember thinking that was rather odd and even a bit random ... I had no idea that those two conversations were only the beginning of more randomness than my old brain can comprehend. 

By now I'm sure you're chomping at the bit to know what I've been asked to talk about on the panel next week and what the article is and what the conversations were about and how in the world all of that randomness could possibly be connected. In order for you to fully understand why these seemingly random occurrences are now impossible for me to categorize as random, I think I should explain in chronological order. First, the conversations ... we were talking about how I feel when a straight woman makes it known ... not to me, mind you, but to other women ... that she's uncomfortable being in a public restroom with me because I'm gay. Next, click here to read the article from the Washington Post written by Steven Petrow. It's about the "bathroom bills" that are being introduced in multiple states and how they are affecting women who have masculine traits ... not only gay women, mind you, just women who aren't female enough in their physical appearance or clothing style. And finally, the topic I've been asked to address on the panel is LGBT inclusion in the workplace, and I won't be the least bit surprised if I'm asked a question about restroom etiquette at my office considering that who pees where is such a huge issue right now.

So what do I think? I think Someone is trying to tell me something in a big way ... you bet your butt I do ... you bet your butt I do indeed.