Why Do People Hate Gays?

It has been my experience that when a person is confronted with adversity, the best chance for survival is to carry on and refuse to back down. At times, that can be incredibly difficult. Few people like to be singled out or ridiculed. Still, backing down would only mean that the detractors had gotten the best of you.

Recently, I have written a few articles about my life as a lesbian. Also, I wrote about what is often perceived as the "gay agenda" in politics. I was amazed by some of the comments that I received on these articles. While several people left nice comments, others left comments that were so hateful that their words were removed from my articles. They were not removed by me, but they must have gone against the guidelines of the website.

In the comments that were removed, I was called the big "C" word, a "hairy lesbian", (I was not aware that homosexuality and hair growth went together), and I was informed that all gay people should be killed on sight.

Wow. That pretty much sums up my thoughts on that.

Do I perceive these people as a threat? No. Instead, I view them as people who are controlled by unwarranted anger. It is the same anger that causes people to be racist and lash out at innocent people. It is an anger that is so incredibly dangerous for the person that holds onto it that it makes me feel sincerely sorry for those people.

Why my lifestyle would so affect another person that he would state that all homosexuals deserved to be murdered is something I will never understand. To hate for a biological predisposition is ludicrous, at best. At worst, it is hateful and dangerous to the human soul. Hatred like that can eat at a person and tear them down.

I have done my best through the years to get to the heart of this hatred that lives within so many. I've explored different ideas that have come up about the anti-gay sentiment in thorough detail. I have read the Bible and studied religion in school. The Bible that I have read does not only speak of homosexuality. It also instructs us to love our neighbors and to do unto others as we wish for them to do unto us. How is it that people can read the Bible and think that it gives them the right to spew hatred? The verbal vomit that comes my way is not something that true religion condones.

To truly say that homosexuality is wrong and to insult me because of it, one should be able to back those statements in an intelligent manner. Simply saying that I'm gross, or evil, or need to be shot is not a mature way of speaking your mind. Instead, tell me why you find me to be gross or evil. Please explain to me what purpose it would serve to kill gay people.

If one studies the history of this country, he or she will find that one group of people is always repressed at any given time. One group is kept down and ridiculed by the masses. Whether it is women, blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics, or women, this country has a history of keeping power out of the hands of select groups. Homosexuals are amongst the ridiculed at this time in history. However, I will not back down. History does repeat itself, and I know my time will come. There will be a time in this world when I can walk down the street, holding my girlfriend's hand, and not worry about slurs and insults that might come my way. A time will come when gay people will not be stereotyped in the media in order to make the majority of the audience laugh. A time will come when gay rights are not seen as an outside fringe movement. Most importantly, the time will come when I am viewed as first a human being, and second a lesbian.