This week I was again reminded of the real America we live.
Last week a group came to Michigan to protest the funeral of an American soldier whose life was cut short by an explosive on foreign soil. This ceremony should have been a moment for the family and friends to reflect but a group led by Westboro Baptist Church’s Rev. Fred Phelps, sent protestors to display signs that proclaimed that this fallen soldier was killed as punishment for America’s tolerance of gays.
What a load of shit.
These folks have nothing better to do than going around stirring up grief stricken communities as they travel from funeral to funeral spreading a gospel of hate.
These are the same folks who have also in the past protested the funerals of those who died of AIDS and Matthew Shepard - the Wyoming student who was brutally beaten to death and then strapped to a wooden fence to bleed and eventually die. The irony of this hateful act on a wooden structure is not lost on this writer. (Phelps is trying to have a memorial built that declares Matthew is in hell.)
As the culture wars heat up it will no doubt become very problematic for gays and lesbians to maneuver though the political system where roadblocks to equality are erected. The Taliban of the Right have found that as they lose the fundraising battle over Pro-Life issues, the discovery of fundraising around anti-gay protesting is a huge cash cow as it attracts record donations.
In Michigan like many states before and many hoping to follow, there are absolutely no rights to protect one’s relationship if you are in a gay relationship.
When Michigan voted to place discrimination against one group of Americans in their State’s Constitution, they were able to remove all relationship rights of gays.
Remember the saying, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it must be a duck. Well, the Duck is gay relationships and they are very alive and real in this country.
Here is the honest to God truth. Think for one second what it is like to open the paper or tune in the news to witness on a daily basis and hear the constant “gay is bad or wrong for our country.” Now imagine yourself treated this way on a daily basis and the clear vision of the pain a gay person feels in America becomes into view.
Everyday a gay person is reminded of this imbalance by these speakers of hate, or in Michigan’s case, a HUGE chunk of population, who voted to bar gay people from any form of relationship rights including access to basic healthcare or inheritance rights being offered to others in straight relationships.
Now imagine the up hill battle one encounters everyday in the face of such hate.
The pressure is starting to surface as young gay kids are starting to exhibit signs of frustration in a culture of hate we have allowed to be created. If a young gay person were to walk into a church and open fire, I would probably not be surprised.
In a culture that promotes such intolerance, someone will snap. History has a long list of such reactive acts - it is only a matter of time.
But if we see the signs then now is when we all need each other and not be lured into the damning culture of violence that seems to be spreading like a virus. (i.e. One Vet's group member who stood up to the Phelp's clan threatened to use a bat the next time he sees them at a fallen soldier's funeral.)
In my childhood I was treated to daily recitals of the Pledge of Allegiance where the concept of "Liberty and Justice for All" was drummed into my head. At baseball games we are asked to stand up and sing about “the land of the free and home of the brave.”
This continued indoctrination of patriotism has had a profound impact on me as I grew to believe this dream; equality for all was real.
But yet again, as the contemporary headlines proclaim, this is not true.
So in the coming years this battle will heat up. I have gay friends who notified their family and friends they will no longer be attending weddings until gay marriage is legalized. I applaud their stance.
But if this battle is to be won, it is going to take the enlighten ones to turn back the tide of hate and intolerance.
I have lost faith the GOP or the Democrats have any interest in this issue as they have hung gay people out to fight for their own over the past years. The tyranny of the majority needs to discover the soul of equality.
And until we as a nation find it, the Pledge of Allegiance is not worth wiping one’s ass. I am sorry if this lack of respect shocks one, but it usually takes a jolt to wake us from our slumber.
The dream of equality must be made a reality if we are to all be true Americans.
News of Funeral Protest on 3/27/06
Link to the equality rights NOT offered.
