Homosexuality In America,” -- or-- How I found out I was “gay” at age 16, 1964.

[MikeW]

Part of me still feels like a pervert because I was shamed for years and years. Will I ever be rid of this feeling? Ugh.

I suspect this is a rhetorical question, but w/e I'll give it a shot . . .

My question is, when you say "part of me feels," can you say *what* part?

My experience is that to unravel questions like yours, I have to dig into those "parts," really get to know them. Why do I -- why do any of us -- feel shame? And to really understand that, something more than just thinking about it is necessary.

We have to go into it, really feel it all the way down to the quick, so to speak. The most tender parts. We have to see and perhaps even re-experience the initial *wounding* that created that shame. What I see is it is a scar, emotional scar tissue. Like something that healed over in a particular 'shape' or 'form' or 'feeling' that got solidified and identified with the concept of "shame". But the feeling, the wounding, is much deeper than that.