But when straight people feel the need to flaunt their lifestyle choice in front of God and everybody, I simply have to draw the line! Heterosexuality tends to lead to excessive breeding and higher rates of divorce, neither of which I think ought to be encouraged. Why can’t they just be happy comprising roughly 96% of the population, and leave the rest of us to live our simple lives, unencumbered by the burden of birth control?? Is that so wrong??
(That last line ought to be read in the voice of Harvey Fierstein.)
Song: Judy Garland: “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
Damn my allergies! That was so good it calls for a post-blogital cigarette.
Thank God that my spouse and I were saved in time from a slavish devotion to the agenda; we are no longer encumbered or burdened by birth control thanks to the wonders of modern surgical medicine.
Seriously, though, I worry for friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers on the other side of the sexual fence. The other night I was discussing a possible church blog with my priest, and he’s worried that it’s not safe “in the current climate.” I keep seeing articles referencing more and more sly little attacks on gay rights, more and more blatantly anti-gay statements by politicians, and more pleas for tolerance falling on deaf ears. The recent refusal by CBS and NBC to run a mainline Protestant church’s ad, which shows gays and other minorities being refused entrance to a worship service by “church bouncers,” has been bothering me for a while. Why is it okay to accept statements from evangelical/fundamentalist ministers that espouse implicit intolerance in their public support of anti-gay legislation, while it’s not okay to accept an ad from a moderate church in support of tolerance and inclusivity?
This country is like one gigantic schoolyard, and the bullies have taken over the principal’s office, the nurse’s office, the janitor’s closet, the physical plant, the groundskeeper’s hut, and the ROTC club. Anybody who is so uncool as to be un-conventional and un-saved (and thus un-American) will get picked on like all the other weirdos.
It looks like the rest of us “uncool” and “weird” and “bent” and “differently abled” and “ethnic” kids had better barricade ourselves in the library…because if the bullies come after one bunch of weird kids, they’ll come after us all.
I had forgotten to mention the church advertisement in my original post; apparently, one of the networks, in their refusal to run the ad, mentioned that running it would run counter to the wishes of the current administration, given the continued push for a gay marriage constitutional amendment. The argument that is made is that the networks don’t run advocate ads, but on the radio tonight, someone pointed out that ALL ads are advocating some sort of lifestyle, usually revolving around extreme consumption.
I just hear the ignorant stuff that people say, and I just get fed up. I hear people just spouting bile, and I don’t understand how they can justify it to themselves. That’s why I posted that rant. When I was 18, I would make excuses for stuff people said, but anymore I am not about to stand for it. I had to put up with this same “Gay Agenda” propaganda in 1991, and people are making the same feeble arguments now as they did then. I honestly thought that the situation had improved for gays — in point of fact, it has, but you wouldn’t know it from what you see and hear on the news. My dad is very conservative, although admittedly he’s more a secular fiscal conservative, but he knows I’m gay, and by putting a face to the issue, I think it’s made him a lot more willing to support, say, domestic partnership benefits. My hope is that, as more people realize that their children or siblings or parents are queer, that they will recognize some sort of common humanity. Does that make sense? It won’t always work like this, I know; I’ve been very lucky. Our minority suffers from the fact that it’s essentially an invisible one; that’s why comparisons to the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s seem so ill-considered. If you’re an African-American, then you are born into a community, and you recognize the other members of your community. A gay person has to seek out their own community. It can be… difficult.
All the public backlash has only managed to make me more politically aware, and determined not to shut up. Which is good, I guess, but it’d be even better if I didn’t have to be so determined in the first place.
Sorry to have posted so much; I sort of lost track of my thoughts. And it makes me sound a lot more depressed than I am. Thanks for the cite!
Hi. I’ve posted on your blog before, but I just wanted to say something again. I’m the anonymous person who asked the Childfree poster why the childfree should have any problem with Michelle Duggar, given that she (Ms. Duggar) isn’t on welfare, is raising her children to be responsible and well-behaved, and actually CHOSE to have 15 kids (a choice I would not make, by the way). I wrote to the poster unmasking myself but got no response.
In any case, I find it kind of ironic that many (not all, of course) childfree seem intent on condemning Ms. Duggar while insisting – rightfully – that others respect their lifestyle choices. I’m sorry, but I find that hypocritical. Ms. Duggar’s attackers lose my respect, in any case.
Ironically, the hated Michelle Duggar may have ideas about childrearing more in tune with that of the childfree than they would care to admit. For example, in one article about the family she apparently stopped her youngest son from having a fit almost as soon as it started. Quite different from the BNP’s “They’re just being CHIL-DRUN!” Be careful who you knock, I want to tell the CF crowd, because they might be your best friends.