Embrace Diversity?

A dear friend called today in a bit of a panic.  She posted a comment in reply to the mild gay bashing rant former SNL star Victoria Jackson recently spouted on Fox.  Jamie’s comment to the story talked about accepting all people and “embracing diversity.”  She briefly talked of The SHED Project, and a few minutes later she received the following response: 

@Jamie, I feel sorry for you that you can't see how beautiful this world is the way god made it! God made a man and a women to be one together. I know this argument is nothing new to you but you would not even be here w/out a man and women coming together! What if the entire world thought the way you did and EVERYONE "embraced diversity". This world is going to crap and it's because of all this liberal crap that's being forced down everyones throats! You pushing this agenda (or bullying it) is no better than the "bully's" that you say are intolerant! Some people may say YOU ARE INTOLERANT! Just saying!

She was surprised and taken aback.  “There was this feeling in the pit of my stomach and I just needed to talk to you,” she said.  I told her I have been hearing about bigotry in the name of God since I was a kid and that I wasn’t surprised.  I knew this was new for her, and so we talked about it and she felt better.  “I wasn’t going to delete my comment…but I can’t believe she said what she said,” she added. 

What I failed to mention early is that Jamie also called me a few weeks ago to talk of a boy who was found dead at home at the age of  13.  A bullet to the head.  Why?  Not because he felt accepted.  Was he gay or straight?  No one knows, and it doesn’t matter.  He took his own life because for whatever reason he felt lost and scared.  I asked Jamie if I could share her e-mail and she said ok:

I wanted to let you know that a 7^th grade boy from the kid’s school killed himself a couple of weeks ago.  Rumor has it that he was being bullied by kids because he was overweight?  True or not true, it was a very tragic death…a life gone to soon!  The school sent home an Anti-Bullying form that both kids and I had to sign, but that was it!  This needs to be addressed and taught at every school that bullying IS NOT ALLOWED…what you are doing and your passion with the S.H.E.D project is absolutely noble!  Stop Hate Embrace Diversity…I couldn’t say that better myself.  I have always tried to teach my children that everybody’s different, God made us this way on purpose!  If we were all the same, what a boring world we would live in!   Gay, Lesbian, transgender, bi-sexual, overweight, too skinny, different accent, wheel chair bound, special needs…it doesn’t matter, we are all different in our own special way and God made us that way.  The bullying MUST stop!  We wear our purple bracelets with Pride!!  Thank you!  JJ 

People can hide in their houses, quote the bible and hate in the name of God, feel however they want to feel.  Whatever you think, kids, our future, are dying because they aren’t accepted.  Is this new?  No, but when are we going to say NO MORE!  Join the fight, speak up, make that difference.  Can you afford not to?

PS.  What can you do?  Send this to 10 people and ask them to do the same.  Enough is enough…www.theshedproject.org is trying to make a difference, won’t you?

Thank you Senator Gillibrand for working towards EQUALITY!

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2011/03/18/gillibrand-to-introduce-adoption-anti-discrimination-bill/

Isle of Man recognizes man to man and woman to woman love!

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2011/03/isle-of-man-legalizes-civil-partnerships-for-same-sex-couples/

This article is short and sweet and states what gay marriage is about:  Federal rights and benefits and less about religion.  The conservative religious groups spouting hate in the name of God and Jesus make no sense to me.  Keep your religious views out of my civil rights.  I don't hate you, and I don't judge you.  That's how I was brought up, but don't keep my civil rights from me in the name of Jesus.

Will GOP budge over new poll showing a majority of Americans support gay marriage? Probably not!

Continue the inequalities GOP?  We won't accept the answer 'yes' anymore!

http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/4378029-417/most-in-u.s.-back-gay-marriage-but-gop-wont-budge

More and more Americans supporting Gay Marriage!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/support-gay-marriage-reaches-milestone-half-americans-support/story?id=13159608&page=1

First Entry

I remember growing up never understanding bigotry and the inequities faced in society by the old, young, black, Asian, Jew, other immigrant, person with an accent, gay, straight, or other.  I was young and naive and believed what I was told.  Treat others with respect (okay, but my sisters too?), follow the commandments, and later I learned about the constitution and how that protected me.

What I later started seeing was that if you had money, were male and/or Caucasian, that your rights were different that those of the poor, at times women (how they are viewed in the catholic church as an example), and especially someone who was "not from America."  (That last one totally confused me as I am Irish-German American and not native American, so most all of us are "foreigners.")

Recently, these past few months, as a gay man who was born gay (and yes, I tried praying it away for about the first 15 years of life.  No rosary, Memorare, or Novena would "change me to normal" as I had prayed, so I finally accepted the truth that I was in fact, without a doubt BORN THIS WAY...NO CHOICE was EVER involved.  Now that we are clear on that).  As I was saying, being gay in this society, I realize how I am a second class citizen, and how I am told I am created equally, but I am treated like a second class citizen.  I don't want special treatment, I want equality.  The real issue is born this way or not.  I can say it until I am blue in the face, but those who disagree can disagree.  I just don't believe the federal government should sanction benefits to people they deem fit (married couples) and not give benefits to others (those who are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender.))

And for those who argue that LGBT people are threatening the sanctity of marriage, lest we forget the polygamists of the world and a divorce rate of >50%.  And think of the many many many straight people who get these rights and then abuse them with not only one, or two, or three marriages, but multiple marriages, some lasting less than a day, some numbering more than 5 or 10.  And for those which don't end in divorce, we have infidelity, and yet we defend marriage as a religious institution.

Great, keep it religious, and take the federal benefits away.  We want equality, we want it now!  We will not stop until we get it, and this blog will show the disparity going on in our society and the negative effects it is having on its citizens including me.  So no more inequities.  EQUALITY FOR ALL, and it starts NOW!