And not just anti-gay hate. All hate.
I'm surely becoming semi-notorious for reporting on events/stories. This time, my thoughts are stemming from a JoeMyGod story so old it's actually expired, and disappeared off his homepage. But there we go.
Essentially, what happened was this.
-Joe McMygod (I forget his real surname) won some award for gay bloggers
-Peter LaBarbera, a prominent antigay and twitter rival to Joe said that this showed the queer community endorsed hate against Christians, since Joe is extremely vocal (as vocal as a textual blogger can be, anyway) in his condemnation of the religious right
-Joe quoted this on his blog, saying that LaBarbera was in no position to criticise, given his continued description of gays as "perverts," "depraved", et al.
The problem with this is it creates a "he started it" dilemma; combined with "an eye for an eye". Why would we mirror the slanderous, hateful rhetoric of the antigay right when we know that it is that: slanderous antigay rhetoric?
We in the progay camp know that we have all the logic, rationality and love on our side. We know that we are simply standing up for what we are, whereas the hardline social conservatives are acting out of fear for that which is different from them. Essentially; we know we are right. Why on earth, then, would we bring ourselves to their level? What do we gain from hurling verbal abuse at them in response to their slander?
Right now we are caught in a cycle where every time someone from the religious right slanders homosexuals, we respond with more slander, they respond with yet more slander, and it goes on and on: achieving nothing. If we are to prove to the centrists that we are not the hateful ones, that we in no way want to infringe on the rights of other to live their lives the way they wish, then we have to adopt a rhetoric that does not condemn.
I know it's hard, when encountering homophobia, not to scream back at the ignorant. But we have to prove that we're better than them. That we're better than this kind of discourse. We have no hate for those who aren't gay. We don't want them to change the way they are; any more that we want to change the way we are. So viciously bitching about religion and conservatism is creating an inaccurate image of our political aims. It's not doing us any kind of favour.
The LGBT rights movement was started to counter hate. Lets not create more hate in it's name. Don't say "they're not changing the way they're talking, so I'm not going to change the way I'mn talking back at them". Be proactive, and be the one (or the side) who rises above it first.
Gays Against Hate. All Hate.
I'm surely becoming semi-notorious for reporting on events/stories. This time, my thoughts are stemming from a JoeMyGod story so old it's actually expired, and disappeared off his homepage. But there we go.
Essentially, what happened was this.
-Joe McMygod (I forget his real surname) won some award for gay bloggers
-Peter LaBarbera, a prominent antigay and twitter rival to Joe said that this showed the queer community endorsed hate against Christians, since Joe is extremely vocal (as vocal as a textual blogger can be, anyway) in his condemnation of the religious right
-Joe quoted this on his blog, saying that LaBarbera was in no position to criticise, given his continued description of gays as "perverts," "depraved", et al.
The problem with this is it creates a "he started it" dilemma; combined with "an eye for an eye". Why would we mirror the slanderous, hateful rhetoric of the antigay right when we know that it is that: slanderous antigay rhetoric?
We in the progay camp know that we have all the logic, rationality and love on our side. We know that we are simply standing up for what we are, whereas the hardline social conservatives are acting out of fear for that which is different from them. Essentially; we know we are right. Why on earth, then, would we bring ourselves to their level? What do we gain from hurling verbal abuse at them in response to their slander?
Right now we are caught in a cycle where every time someone from the religious right slanders homosexuals, we respond with more slander, they respond with yet more slander, and it goes on and on: achieving nothing. If we are to prove to the centrists that we are not the hateful ones, that we in no way want to infringe on the rights of other to live their lives the way they wish, then we have to adopt a rhetoric that does not condemn.
I know it's hard, when encountering homophobia, not to scream back at the ignorant. But we have to prove that we're better than them. That we're better than this kind of discourse. We have no hate for those who aren't gay. We don't want them to change the way they are; any more that we want to change the way we are. So viciously bitching about religion and conservatism is creating an inaccurate image of our political aims. It's not doing us any kind of favour.
The LGBT rights movement was started to counter hate. Lets not create more hate in it's name. Don't say "they're not changing the way they're talking, so I'm not going to change the way I'mn talking back at them". Be proactive, and be the one (or the side) who rises above it first.
Gays Against Hate. All Hate.
I'm a gay christian. Being both teaches to love. If you are a christian and you think because, it says so in the bible, that gay is 'wrong'or 'sinful' and you think because of that you should hate gays, then arn't you just playing god? Are you saying that because god can do it so can you? Are you comparing yourself to god? Do you love yourself as much as you love god? What kindof christian does that make you?
ReplyDeleteStick to what god told you to do? 'love thy naighbour' et 'treat others how you wish to be treated' - among others. Would you like to be ostrosized because of something you think you can't change? We all know you wouldn't.
Another point is that being 'LBGT' can teach you to love. It's all you have at the point of being ostrosized, we become some of the most loving people there could be, because we wish for kindness to be shown (im implying that most gay people do get bullied) the best way to get love, respect, or acceptance is by showing it to other people.
sorry sam, I know this is your blog.
Well said Alice. :)
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