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sheilas-letters
*Let People Choose their own Paths*

Let people choose their own paths
Published in the Bellingham herald on November 5th, 1998

I read with interest Annetta Small's column in the Aug. 2 Herald.

I met Michael Johnson of Kerusso Ministries at churches in Everson and Bellingham. His experience in the gay/lesbian community was different from mine.

In 1983, I grappled with my sexual identification and entered the lesbian community of central Seattle in 1986. The lesbian Resource Centre extended a helping hand and enabled me to find a better life. My friends and I went on dyke hikes to Mount Rainier and the Olympic Peninsula where I met my partner in 1989. we have had a stable and monogamous relationship ofr nine years.

The lesbian community was only a stepping stone to another life. Currently I am pursuing a 12-year love affair with Pacific Northwest Ballet where we will be attending "The Nutcracker" again.

The LRC provided me with a guiding light during my troubled years. Johnson used the Bible as a staff to enable him to change his life. Change is the only constant in this universe. Our constitution allows each to choose our own path. It is not up to others to choose it for us.
Sheila L Richardson
Bellingham

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