Wednesday, August 01, 2012

One day...


A Facebook status update I posted:

So.  Everyone is up in arms about Chick Fil-A and their stance on gay marriage.  I’ve seen people who adamantly support this company’s stance because “they are just a business” and are “entitled to their freedom of speech.”  I’d like to remind those individuals on my friends list who are right wing conservatives and insist that simply because the Bible says I’m wrong for loving someone of the same gender, you may want to read a little farther into your precious book.  If I really must take you on individually for this debate, please let us do it via private message but I do reserve the right to dismiss you as simply ignorant of other verses.  Furthermore, I do fervently agree with Chick Fil-A’s right to say what they want in coming out against or in support of any marriage stance they want, HOWEVER, what I cannot and will not tolerate is this company donating millions of dollars to such groups as Exodus International.  For those of you who don’t know, Exodus International is group who engage in ex-gay therapies.  To translate that into lay terms for everyone, these therapies are psychological and physical aversion therapy (torture) in an attempt to “cure” gays and make them straight.  If you condone the barbaric practice of torture to try and change the way people are born, then please find the unfriend button right now.  I do not want or need you in my life in any shape or form.  Thanks so much.



While this particular status may seem a little bitchy and perhaps even a little inflammatory, I don’t really care.  I have seen gays and straights alike saying “can’t we all just get along?” over the last few days because of one semi-edible fast food restaurants stance on whether or not I (and others like me) can marry the people we love.  This is quite a novel concept and while I’d like to think we could all get along, it we in America look to our not so distant past we will see just exactly what bigotry and denial of rights to a minority can cause.

                This summer I took a government class.  While I would have very much enjoyed taking this class in a brick and mortar environment, I ended up taking the class online.  During the course of this class I learned a lot about just how our government works and the civil rights movement.  While I didn’t see much evidence of racists using the bible as a reason for the rampant segregation, I do know of the bible being used to endorse slavery before the Civil War.  While it was ruled by the Supreme Court that separate but equal was at one point constitutional under the 14th amendment, it was later overturned.  To this day there are even still some elections in the great state of Mississippi that are under federal jurisdiction because of the inability to include African American people in the election back during the civil rights movement.

                Now having said all that, let’s look at the current equal rights movement underway for the equal treatment of the GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Trans) community.  There is a growing and at times violent expanse forming between those individuals who would deny equal marital rights to homosexual couples and those individuals who are fighting for same sex couples to have the same rights as heterosexual couples.  The one main theme I keep seeing throughout this fight is the bible says being gay is “an abomination” and “abhorrent.”  I have seen countless people my age and younger taking a stance on this issue and unfortunately taking a highly uninformed stance.  I saw something the other day that said “we need to bring this country back to God” and gays should “never be [granted] the right to be married” because “being gay is a choice.”  To these people I wish to say, you my fellow human being, are an imbecile if you really honestly believe this country was founded on a single religion.

                This country was founded on the principle of being a refuge for religious freedom and the opportunity for prosperity.  People seem to forget this because of the religious right’s ability to manipulate its followers into believing anything it spews forth.  Much like the civil rights movement of the past, this will soon be another dark blot on America’s history that we will all say “I was there to see it happen!”

                I heard a story one time that I am unsure if it’s true but it’s a nice story anyway.  As some of you may know, the rainbow is recognized as the symbol for gay pride.  I have heard this wasn’t always the case.  During the last civil rights movement, the rainbow was developed as a symbol for equality.  All races, all colors, living together in harmony just like in a rainbow.  It represented the beautiful hope that those who were fighting so diligently for their equal rights clung to so desperately.  Again in our country’s sordid history it is the symbol for an oppressed group who simply want the same rights as the majority.

                One day, we will be able to live in harmony and marry the one we love without wondering if or when we will be persecuted for our heart’s desire.