I have an issue that I need to discuss. The issue is gay rights. I have spoken about my feelings about how I feel the gay rights movement is not as progressive as it should but now it is time to focus my attention on the more important issue…the opposition.
The religious right has always attacked homosexuality with vicious lies. Whether it is Dr. Paul Cameron with his false studies on homosexuality and violence, to James Dobson and his archaic religious dogma, their hatred is nothing more than bigotry. Yes that is what it is and you can rationalize it however you like but it is bigotry nonetheless. Therefore let’s boil down the opposition’s argument against granting the LGBT community the rights that the heterosexual community takes for granted.
My first issue is the military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” I have spoken about this before so I am going to keep this brief. This policy is about as effective at producing unit cohesion as a group therapy session is for various pedophiles in America. Everyone knows that the military policy bent on removing homosexuals from the armed forces is ineffective but they continue it because it is another way they can impose their hate upon a minority while escaping the label of bigot.
The next issue at hand is hate crime legislation. The main criticism against hate crime legislation is that we should not be creating special laws to protect certain Americans. My answer to this is the majority of Americans at risk for these kinds of hate crimes? The answer is no because they are the ones committing the hate crimes. Homosexuals, African Americans, Latino Americans, and others, are the ones who are subject to murder for being homosexual, African American, Latino American, or any other minority. This is why there is a need for a “special” law to protect these minorities. Do not forget that the Bill of Rights was created to protect the rights of the minorities from the oppressive will power of the majority. Thus your argument is mute yet again.
The next and final issue at hand is marriage. Marriage carries with it hundreds of rights that are then granted to that couple that non-married people do not get. If we are going to give those couples “special” rights when those couples are straight, then we need to give them to gay couples as well. Anything short of this is discrimination. Marriage is a civil contract. It is really that simple. Since it is a civil (or legal) contract, the issue of its religious origins should be tossed in the trash where they belong. However if it is truly that important to the definition of marriage (to recognize the religious influences) then marriage should be abolished in the legal sense and we should instill civil unions for everyone. This would solve the issue completely. Religious, unintelligent, bigots get to hate all they want while the LGBT community gets the rights they deserve as an American.
Finally, the issue of opposing gay rights has nothing to do with religious freedom or expression. It is about hatred. It is about bigotry. If a person is willing to deny rights to a man or a woman because of their sexual orientation, then they are a bigot. That is simply a fact of life. If you do not like the label, then stop your hate mongering and learn to practice what your archaic beliefs teach. Otherwise shut the hell up and get out of my way.
