Same-Sex Marriage Has the Attention of Bloggers

Ignorance. Bigotry. Fear. Hate. I want to think that the citizens of the U.S.A. are much more educated, knowledgeable and open minded than to continue to exude the four feelings I noted, yet every day I am proven wrong.

As I was celebrating the news that Maine became the 5^th state to legalize and recognize same-sex marriage, I ran across a number of mindless blogs about how "homosexuals" are destroying America and are deviants that have to be stopped. Even old Joe the Plumber (weren't his 15 minutes of fame up months ago?) got into the act with his homophobic comments to a Christian magazine interviewing him. He was quoted as saying, "I've had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children." He goes on to display his amazing lack of intelligence with this little gem, "I personally still think it's wrong. People don't understand the dictionary--it's called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It's not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that."

So Joe, whose name is really Samuel Wurzelbacher, claims he has gay friends, but wouldn't let them near his children? Wow Joe, you are some kind of friend. My guess is that, like me, his gay friends wouldn't want Joe anywhere near their children. Who would want their kids subjected to such ignorance? But let's not forget Joe educating us about the word "Queer". I have a newsflash for Joe, gays and lesbians did not come up with the word "queer" to call themselves. Nope, that was thought up by people just like you, and then was thrown back in the bigots faces by gay activists who declared, "We're here, we're queer, get use to it." The LGBT community just took a word that some angry bigots came up with decades ago to use as a gay slur, and embraced it so that it could not be used against them.

It's the same as any attempted put down, the people that use derogatory words towards others, are basing those put downs on their own fears. Maybe they fear their own personal feelings, something in their own closet they are trying to hide? Former Christian televangelist Ted Haggard is one of many who proved that theory. He was as big of an anti-gay persona as we've ever had. He railed against homosexuals whom he compared to child molestors and beastiality and condemned them all to hell. What shocked many of his faithful followers was that Mr. Haggard was himself a self-loathing gay man, clinging to his secrets and hiding behind a façade. Mr. Haggard now claims that he is a heterosexual with homosexual thoughts, which really comes down to not wanting to label yourself as bisexual. He does however think differently of the gay community now and according to his interview on the Oprah show, he believes everyone is Gods children and should be treated well and accepted for who they are. Funny how feelings change when it is yourself that bigotry and fear is directed towards. Mr. Haggard got a taste of what it is like to be a gay American, where people like Joe the Plumber still exist in the year 2009.

I admit that it is depressing that there are still so many people who feel justified in their ignorant behavior. They think that because someone is different then them, they are less than or bad people in some way. But then, in this country, just 50 years ago, African-Americans were treated the same way by the same type of small minded bigots. Racism still exists, but this country has made great strides in overcoming its ignorance towards races other than Caucasian. The LGBT community seems to be the last acceptable group for the bigots to publicly rally against and try to oppress, but the times are changing, whether they like it or not.

Maine joined Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Iowa in recognizing same-sex marriage. Maine Governor John Baldacci said, "I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage." I am thrilled at the courage of those 5 states and the fact that more and more of Americas tax paying, law abiding gay citizens are coming out of the closet. It gives me hope that those that harbor hatred towards their fellow human beings will be drowned out by the love and acceptance of a new generation of Americans.

Sources: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/samesex.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/04/joe-the-plumber-queer-mea_n_196116.html