A few months ago I got into a facebook status fight (it's perfectly acceptable to roll your eyes here) with some girl I used to go to high school with. She posted: "Chik-fil-A is now being labeled as anti-gay. Chik-fil-A, not only do I love your sandwiches and waffle fries, but I will be more than happy to continue as a loyal customer and support your pro-conservative/Christian agenda."
It was impossible for me to keep my mouth shut. I eventually got defriended and the whole bit. I'm not going to go into the whole exchange. But that statement got me fired up. Some of my best friends are boys who happen to like other boys, and you know what, I wouldn't trade them for the world. I couldn't let a comment like that slide by my radar. I even started by straight out asking her to clarify what she was trying to say with her status. Did she support Chick Fil A because they are anti-gay? Was that just an added perk? What am I missing, please, enlighten me. Of course my initial question got ignored and after a few more people commented I just said fine, and let my opinions run wild.
They kept trying to say that they don't hate gay people they just support the nuclear family. This is where I take the most issue. You cannot support one side of an issue and not oppose the opposite view. You can say you don't have any problem with gay people, but you do. The simple fact that you don't think they should be allowed to have families shows that you see them as inferior people. Seeing someone as inferior lacks respect. There is a flaw in your argument, trying to spin it away from gay marriage doesn't negate the fact that you are judging someone based something they cannot change, and an aspect of them that is as self defining as their skin tone or who their parents are.
Today, my roommate told me a story about her gay friend who was grabbed by the neck of a bouncer in a club and pushed up against a wall simply because he asked, "Is this a gay club?" What was worse, when his friends asked officers for help, the most the police did was repeatedly ask him if he was gay. As if that had anything to do with the problem at hand. It gives me that same disgusted feeling I had while walking through the Holocaust museum in DC.
What was more, I just got online only to find this video of Michele Bachmann being questioned about her views on gay people. She tried to go on to say that she didn't judge gay people, but she was quoted saying, "It leads to the personal enslavement of individuals. Because if you're involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it's bondage." How is that not judging?! I'm sorry, but unless you are actually a gay person, you have no idea what is going on in their hearts and minds to be able to say that their lifestyle is enslavement. She stressed that we need to have "profound compassion"for those people suffering from sexual dysfunction and sexual identity disorders. Excuse me while I roll my eyes out of my head. Your idea of compassion is restricting their lifestyle? And don't even try to disguise pity and superiority for "profound compassion."
Interviews like hers anger me most because she does a terrible job defending her views. Are you too afraid to say how you really feel? I want real answers to these questions. I want people who make such political statements to stand up to what they say. Defriending me because I was making controversy on your facebook wall is cowardly. I look forward to our five year high school reunion where, if prompted, I will debate this properly.
Until then I will try to make my next post not so charged, Kita's blogs are always so neutral and mine are always quite opinionated. Ah well, I used to write an opinion column for my high school newspaper, clearly it's just who I am.
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