The following poem was written for the 30th anniversary of the Office of Minority Affairs for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. It was read, by the author, at the meeting of the multicultural organizations during the 1999 ASHA convention in San Francisco.

By Joe Melcher

Look! Look at Us!
No, I mean take a good close look at us.
Is there not one among us who looks like you?
Is there not one among us who has skin like you?
Hair like you? Eyes like you?
Do we not do the same work as you?
Do we not wear the same clothes as you?
Do we not eat the same food as you?
We have fathers and mothers just like you.
We have brothers and sisters just like you.
Yes, we even have sons and daughters just like you.
If you strike us, do we not feel the pain?
If you cut us, our blood leaves the same red stain.
On the outside there is little difference between you and we.
The difference is on the inside where you cannot see.
The difference is I love a man just like me.
And my sister loves a woman just like she.
Yes, We are gays, lesbians, bisexuals, & transgendered; and Proud To Be.
How can you tell the difference between you and me?
Looking at the outside it’s an impossibility.
When will I unlock the secret hidden inside of me?
The answer is as simple as the turn of a key.
When you accept me for who I AM, and not who you want me to be.

© copy right 1999, J. A. Melcher