As Liverpool Pride approaches I thought this article would be fitting for many Seen readers and indeed anyone who at some point in their life has had to fight to be accepted. In facing adversity of any kind it teaches us strength and in accepting yourself and gaining that strength of character it really becomes irrelevant what anyone else thinks.

I am proud of myself, I just happen to be gay. I never made the decision or made the choice, it choose me. As it is such a natural part of me, like the blood in my veins, I have never fought against it. My sexuality is such a small part of me, it doesn’t define me.

This is my last column for Seen Magazine, thank you for all the messages I have received, I hope you have enjoyed reading them and they have given you food for thought. Best Wishes, Chris.

Wrong again

The day I was born, I knew a lot of things. Now that I’m grown I keep remembering where I have been.

I have learnt a lot from all the people I shouldn’t have met or now wish I hadn’t met. I decided at a young age to run with the hunted and the untamed instead of walking through life with my head down.

So called friends, homophobic bosses, homophobic colleagues, homophobic customers, homophobic teachers, homophobes in the street and the playground. Yes, I’ve met them all and ultimately fallen far enough to see which way to go with my life.

Feeling so powerless at times, being kicked to the ground repeatedly, I now feel my strength restored. People think you are broken when you cry or just want to escape. Faithful and kind might be confused for weak. Yet just makes you stronger each time they think you’ve been beat.

Despise me, lie or criticize me all that I feel for you is love and thanks. The people and the events in our lives that break us, ultimately help us to survive. No one else can measure your worth but yourself and believe me I need no one to tell me my faults I know them to the letter.

It’s hard to turn the other cheek when others put you down but always remember that whatever they scatter they reap. People are put down for being successful, intelligent or for beauty even. Don’t let this life lay you low.

People will shatter your image now and in the years to come because that’s the unkind way of the world. People are going to talk whether you do good or bad. I won’t wear a disguise to be someone else for the sake of popularity.

I only know how to be me so I surround myself with similar people who are like minded. When I have met people who have been subjected to harsh bullying I have felt as if they have this wall around their heart, to keep out all pretenders and cruelty. Their lives are like a maze of corridors that lead no where.

Although I despise bullying of any kind, when you are made to feel the outsider it makes your skin thicker. It is not a weakness in you, but in them. As the years unfold you will find that the people that once tried to bring you down are the ones trying to be themselves still.

All this gay talk at times bores me so much. I don’t see any issue in love, of any kind. When did you know ? Who is the man in the relationship? These questions not only irritate me but allude to ignorance. We are never going to live in a perfect world exempt from bigotry. We will never be accepted 100% the world over but if in your own self you can be happy and fulfilled then the people who try to put you down and think you will be beaten by it will simply be wrong again.

NOTE FROM EDITOR - Seen Magazine would like to thank Christopher for his invaluable contribution to www.seenmag.co.uk with his columns, and look forward to working with him again in the future.