Everyone has "causes" they support. I pour my energy into mental health awareness and spreading the word about the hazards of GMOs. Just because I don't usually talk about other causes doesn't mean I don't have solid opinions about them. And, I usually don't comment on too many emotionally and politically charged topics, but this one has me fired up and I've had it. Seriously.
I HAVE HAD IT, PLEASE NO MORE!!!!!
I was talking with someone about a mutual friend from our hometown. At one point they said, "He still thinks he's gay". I was FLOORED!! It took me a while to pick my jaw up off of the floor. I couldn't believe it! Fortunately, it was a phone conversation, I don't know how I would have reacted if it was in person.
So, this leads me to say, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH folks.
There is too much hate and intolerance on both sides of this topic, hate begets hate and there is enough of that in the world already. Hate is ugly in all of its forms. Nothing good comes from hate, nothing.
I have a lot to say about this and I could go on and on, but I want to keep this post brief. So, that means, I won't be as thorough as I would like. Consequently, I hope I'm not misunderstood.
First, the libertarian in me says, the government needs to get out of the marriage business. Period.
Next, I have no problem with people being gay. None, whatsoever. I get so infuriated when others make insensitive and degrading remarks about someone who is gay. I have a ton of friends and family members who are gay, and they aren't an inferior person because of it. It's just who they are. When I was at UCMT a ton of the faculty was gay and they weren't less capable of being effective in the classroom than a straight person. Being gay doesn't mean you're beneath anyone else.
A dearest friend of mine is gay. We've had a lot of conversations about what it was like for her being raised in a very conservative and religious home, and be gay. She was in her 30s when she came out to her parents. She felt there was something wrong with her for years and was actually frightened about it. It wasn't until she was in grad school that she let go of her fears and just... was. It was fascinating and enlightening to hear her story. I developed an even greater compassion for her and others like her who have lived for years hiding from what they feel. And, hearing her story didn't change how I viewed her or her abilities.
So, with that said, here is the thing that gets me in trouble with my liberal and gay friends.
Why should someone who is morally opposed to making money offering a service to someone, who has a lifestyle they don't approve of, be legally forced to provide the service OR be sued/go out of business? (This has nothing to do with me. I don't care if the person on my massage table is gay or straight).
The specific example that bothered me when I first heard of it occurred a year or so ago. A photographer in Annapolis was sued for refusing to photograph a gay couple. She is not the ONLY photographer in Annapolis. (This isn't an isolated incident either, it's happening all over the country). I don't think someone should be legally forced to do business with someone they feel morally opposed to doing business with.
Let the market decide who stays in business. I'd rather a million people vote with their checkbooks than have ONE judge decide the fate of a small business owner.
(I do understand there is discrimination involved in this too, and that is a another blog post entirely).
I've read posts and articles and watched interviews and commentaries on gay rights for years. My observation is, over 90% of them are filled with anger, spite, name calling, fear, bullying, discounting, preaching, condescending remarks etc. Both sides are culpable for spewing hate about the other. It's sickening.
It bothers me.
All of it bothers me.
I searched for what really troubled me, beyond the hate, and it had to do with "space". I don't like it when one group, of anyone, feels like they have to take space from another to have space for themselves. There is enough room for everyone. Why can't there be space for someone to live by their moral conscience? Why does someone have to be legally forced to do something that conflicts with their beliefs?
That is bothersome.
Where is the liberty in that?
It isn't there.
Okay, this is getting long so, I'll finish with, I know there will always be hate in this world, it won't disappear. I can't change people, but I can hope to influence them. And I also know it's the "individual" that makes THE differences in the world. I don't expect hate to go away, but I do want others to look inside themselves and find the love and compassion that already exists within.
Why can't we just love each other for being humans and not the irrelevant labels that get in the way of us seeing each other.....genuinely seeing each other? We have more in common with each other than we acknowledge or choose to see.
Okay, I've said my peace.
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