The Life and Times of Jerry Skid

Being the open person that I am, I make no bones about being an MDA patient.  The MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) treats a wide variety of neuromuscular diseases.  I was born with a mild neuromuscular disease, but it was enough to affect my childhood and there are even some ways I am still affected by it today.  You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I am definitely an MDA patient.

For decades, Jerry Lewis was the spokesperson for the MDA.  The Muscular Dystrophy Association began to call their pediatric patients, Jerry’s Kids.  I’ve always jokingly referred to myself as a Jerry’s Kid and when I got involved with Roller Derby, it didn’t take me long to come up with the name Jerry Skid.  A silly little pun that was both appropriate and comical.

What kills me is when I hear things that imply that this is God’s curse upon me.  Really?  The same God who made me – and made me bisexual at that – cursed me for how he/she/it created me?  I’m sorry, but that does not compute.

My hormones are a part of my biology – how I was made.

My DNA is a part of my biology – how I was made.  That includes my orientation as well as my neuromuscular disease.

So, God made me bi, but that is an abomination, so I must be cursed for that.  And my curse is that my hands cramp easily; my muscles fatigue more quickly than the average person; that I have secondary arthritis?  Seriously?  The same God who can cause fires and droughts and floods gives me a tiny little slap on the wrist because of my genetic makeup?!  NO!

It’s called being human!  Are allergies a curse?  Is bad eyesight a curse?  What about dental problems?  The truth is: we all have ailments of one kind or another.  That’s just life.  We may not always like it, but this is the world we live in.  My neuromuscular disease is no different from your hay fever, so please don’t tell me that mine is a curse and yours isn’t.

We are this generation’s whipping boy.  I don’t like it.  But we are the current social target.  People love to hate us.  They need to justify their bigotry with stupid comments such as, “your disease is your curse.”  No, it’s not.  Your bigotry, prejudice and hatred are an ailment to society.  Your anger is a curse to us all.  But just because it took me longer to walk than most is not God’s way of punishing me for finding beauty in both genders.

People will continue to spew such hate to us.  As emotional as our response could be (anger, laughter, pain), we need to make sure that we react with tact.  They may say something ridiculous.  The only way to prove that we are better than them is to not stoop to their ridiculous level.  But, if you must, tell them Jerry Skid sent you!