Image by Chaiwat.
I have had a stomach full of the gay bashing in this Republican Primary Season. Certainly, I have lived with this all my life and so have most LGBTQ people but at some point, there has to be an end to it and with loud voices speaking on our behalf not just from our community.
Interesting, is it not, that no one is speaking out about this blatant and constant attack against our LGBTQ community? Where were all those liberal voices that had voted for DADT or helped to pass same-sex marriage laws in New York State? Funny how when our votes aren’t presently needed, they have crawled back into the woodwork, not daring to raise their voices against this constant ridiculousness from Republicans.
All those fears of how gay bashing affects younger people seem hardly worth mentioning now. Though seldom do we hear how all this gay bashing affects those of us who have had nothing but that for decades. And at some point, for whatever the reasons, enough is enough and one becomes oversensitized to it and wants some relief. One wants to hear the end of the equating of same-sex love with pedophilia or polygamy or bestiality. I, for one, would like to hear some apologies as well from lawmakers who stood on the sidelines for way too long and never spoke out, never dared to say something courageous for their own constituents.
I sure would love to hear President Obama call for an end to this practice of baiting voters with these angry, ugly attacks on my community. I’d like to see these religious leaders stand up to these assaults and say that there has been enough of this kind of talk coming from people who supposedly love Christ and their country.
In this perfect world I would love to live in, that would all be possible because no one would be going to a pollster to see how people would react to them saying this. Likely, the polls can’t be done soon enough for me or truthfully enough either. Because in the light of how awful it is to hear this coming out of the mouths of men and women who want to be president of the United States, there does come a point when we all wake up and realize some very important things.
The current crop of politicians is a lot who know no decency, care not for it and won’t be tempted to return to any civil discussion of anything ever again. Having already sold their souls they are “enjoying” the fruits of their labor beyond measure. They live better than 99% of us do. That was the goal and they have achieved it. Why should they ever return to a state of being where justice, mercy, love and peace were their values? What can you buy with that?
On another front and of equal importance is the gay bashing that occurs in 76 countries. Canon Ogle writes well about it and I share with you his new column outlining, from his perspective, what this looks like from a priest’s point of view. So, please read and join with him in working to obliterate this form of oppression.
