Commentary from Larry Kramer in today’s LA Times. LARRY KRAMER is the founder of the protest group ACT UP and author of “The Tragedy of Today’s Gays.”
DEAR STRAIGHT PEOPLE,
Why do you hate gay people so much?
Gays are hated. Prove me wrong. Your top general just called us immoral. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is in charge of an estimated 65,000 gay and lesbian troops, some fighting for our country in Iraq. A right-wing political commentator, Ann Coulter, gets away with calling a straight presidential candidate a faggot. Even Garrison Keillor, of all people, is making really tacky jokes about gay parents in his column. This, I guess, does not qualify as hate except that it is so distasteful and dumb, often a first step on the way to hate. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama tried to duck the questions that Pace’s bigotry raised, confirming what gay people know: that there is not one candidate running for public office anywhere who dares to come right out, unequivocally, and say decent, supportive things about us.
Gays should not vote for any of them. There is not a candidate or major public figure who would not sell gays down the river. We have seen this time after time, even from supposedly progressive politicians such as President Clinton with his “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military and his support of the hideous Defense of Marriage Act. Of course, it’s possible that being shunned by gays will make politicians more popular, but at least we will have our self-respect. To vote for them is to collude with them in their utter disdain for us.
Don’t any of you wonder why heterosexuals treat gays so brutally year after year after year, as your people take away our manhood, our womanhood, our personhood? Why, even as we die you don’t leave us alone. What we can leave our surviving lovers is taxed far more punitively than what you leave your (legal) surviving spouses. Why do you do this? My lover will be unable to afford to live in the house we have made for each other over our lifetime together. This does not happen to you. Taxation without representation is what led to the Revolutionary War. Gay people have paid all the taxes you have. But you have equality, and we don’t. READ MORE
No all straights hate gays Chris. But I hate the notion that the equal rights gay Americans fight for are considered “special rights” by the right wing.
I have to admit, I do hate the fact that gay people have a sort of supernatural sense of fashion that I lack. I wish I could dress as well as some of my gay friends. So I guess I do harbor a small amount of hate for gays. Or is it jealousy? Im confused. Or am I curious…I dont know. I need to go shopping.
It’s OK, Paul. Just go shopping with me, and you’ll feel MUCH better.
hehe ; )
Oh Please……….
Andrew, you dress worse than I do and I am the redneck king!
Everytime I see you you are in sweat pants cut off to make them shorts, a pair of flip flops, and an old tee shirt. (Sarcasm)
If Paul and I are going shopping with anyone, it’s Lawson.
That boy looks like a Million Bucks!
Here food for thought, and be honest.
If a Republican stood up and honestly embraced/supported gays, would the gay community vote for them.
Think about it and answer honestly.
they’d be falling all over themselves to support that Republican. The Log Cabin gang would start singing Handel’s messiah.
“My kids have known gay people their entire lives. How many hetero conservatives in OC can say the same? Not many, I’d wager.” Unfortunately, you are probably right.
I am a conservative Republican and an Evangelican Christian. That being said, I would like to address the notion that people that fit my demographic hate gays is sadly not accurate – at least with my friends. We may not agree with the lifestyle or believe it is aligned with our faith but to say “hate” in referencing people is a little over the top.
Here is the issue that I most commonly take up and it was posted initially by Dan. I do not beleive in special rights for a group. Should blonde hair, blue eyed people be recognized as a special group, or how about those who like soccer since the passion runs deep in that sport?
Another point of contention that is often brought up is the fact, as evident in the article, that if you have an oppinion that is outside the gay mainstream belief you inherantly hate gays in general.
Finally, the concern about kids. Personally, if my child was going to school and his teacher was gay I wouldn’t gather the community and cry for dismissal. That person my be the best teacher on staff. The issue that many with my belief have is the promoting and teaching of the gay lifestyles is OK and MUST be embraced. It is against the beliefs of the parents and is not the place for a teacher, coach, or other to impose a belief system outside the childs parents. That works for any belief.
Well, that’s JMO.
Thank you to everyone who has commented on this commentary. I do not always agree with Larry Kramer, but I felt that his perspective provided a good starting point for discussion.
I agree with Dan that there is a minority of people who share the hatred of lesbian, gay’ bisexual, and transgender individuals openly. I believe that there are many who secretly harbor the same perspective and opinions. For the record, as an openly gay man, I am not interested in “special rights.” I am only interested in having the same rights as any one else. I am not interested in the promotion of any religion or faith. I beleive that everone has the right to believe as they choose, so long as they do not impose their faith on me.
Richard, I understand your concern about teaching kids something other than what their parents believe. In that context though, we need to ensure that all parents and their children understand that their beliefs should not infringe on the rights of other who beleive differently. So long as that balance exists, the problems of misunderstanding that lead to the hate expressed by some “evangelicals,” as illustrated by the first picture in this post, can be replaced by mutual understanding of everyone’s right to agree to disagree.
Here in relatively progressive California, we are focused mostly on the marriage issue these days. So we forget that in many states it is still LEGAL to fire a person solely based on their (real of perceived) sexual orientation.
As for the marriage issue, people who are against government-sanctioned marriage for gay and lesbian couples often cite their religious opposition to it. If I were a part of a religious denomination that prohibited a brown-eyed person from marrying another brown-eyed person, should government also prohibit such pairings? In other words, should a secular government be forced to follow the rules of my religion?
If MY government is not going to provide the same marriage rights to all of it’s citizens, it should get out of the marriage business entirely. Civil Unions for ALL!!!
Going to the chapel and we’re gonna
get civil unioned.
This goes to prove we all can always learn more. I linked to this site from Red County. I can say it has proven enlightening and, even if my personal beliefs do not align completely, it is the education I garner from engaging in these discussions that I hope I can truly grow from.
G.Jones, you pose an interesting scenario about who coined the term special rights. I will have to look more into that and your explanation/reasoning of the term. Though I initially don’t doubt it, it would be good to know and better help me understand the arguments surrounding the topic.
Per your comment to post information identifying a group that advocates special rights, I will have to defer that response to a later time. I don’t want to reply with the canned response heard from or interpreted by the media without substantiation. Perhaps I may find none. In that case, this happenstance link was truly valuable.
In closing, I would like to comment that I found the reply’s to my initial post intellectual and challenging. I have added this site to my bookmarks and look forward to more dialogues – as long as you don’t mind a conservative Christian Republican giving an alternative view now and then.
Best regards,
Richard,
Thank you for being willing to engage in the conversation. It is always amazing to me to see how talking things through leads to understanding.
You have also helped me recognize that there are people, like yourself, who are willing to share their point of view with me, and while we may not agree on everything, we can agree to seek common ground and understanding.
God has blessed you with wisdom and understanding.
I look forward to hearing from you again.
Thanks.
We in Key West definitely appreciate this blog and completely support gay rights. I am amazed that the people most yelling about protecting our freedom & way of life in the war on terror (the conservatives) are not willing to give other citizens their freedoms (the gay community).
I also wanted to mention that the image you are displaying on your blog of the gay flag is from our website located at http://www.keywesttravelguide.com