There was a rumor about a pastor setting himself on fire if same sex marriage became legal. Many of us gathered around in anticipation, eyes on Texas, where the pastor resided, waiting for this claim to become a reality. But the pastor came out and said that people misinterpreted his words, and that he was here to stay.
In contrast, a pastor, nearly exactly a year ago, actually DID literally set himself on fire. An article discussing this suicide and the reasons for it states:
In addition to his hometown, Moore faulted the United Methodist Church for failing to reverse what he saw as backward, discriminatory practices like homophobia and support for the death penalty.
He ostensibly set himself on fire because of how bothered he was by the lack of civil rights people were given in this country — at 79 years old, after a lifetime of fighting for them.
This is who you’re going up against, anti-lgbtq folks. I wouldn’t bet on you for a million bucks. I have yet to hear of anyone who has similarly died or sacrificed themselves to the opposite cause, behind all the sanctimonious rhetoric.
I mean, in spite of all the grievance Christians have claimed over their supposed religious liberties being intruded on because two people of the same sex can get married, none of them committed suicide, that I know of, this weekend (or ever, for that matter). No one set themselves on fire, swallowed deadly pills, blew through their skulls with a shotgun, jumped off of any bridges, or committed any other form of suicide because they were so upset about gay marriage being legal. So it must not have bothered you too much.
And no lgbtq people, at least in the news I’m seeing, killed any straight people because gay marriage became legal. Y’all are breathing and doing just fine, from what I can see. I haven’t seen one suicide note even remotely resembling that of Leelah Alcorn, who said she wanted her death to “mean something” and asked us to “fix society, please.”
This is very different from what would have happened if there had been another decision. If bans against same sex marriage had been upheld, the conservative Christian base would have cheered about its religious “freedom” to continue denying people who love each other the right to marry each other. You would have done it sanctimoniously, calling hate “love,” and patronizingly saying that your heterosexual proclivities were better than any other position on the Likert scale. And you would have felt all smug and self-righteous while doing it. And in response, lgbtq people would have died. There would probably have been a lot of suicides due to the way you would self-righteously treat them, and some people would be so zealous about winning that the self-righteous pricks would see license to verbally and physically abuse and even kill members of the lgbtq community for even looking at them. I mean, the suicide attempt rate among transgender individuals stands at around 40% (which is about 9 times the general suicide rate of 4.6%) — and it’s because of the way they’re treated — according to, like, actual studies as opposed to your bigoted, heartless opinion.
Maybe your smug, holier-than-thou visage is thinking, “Then good. We’ll intimidate them into silence.” You’re wrong. As this case indicated, the lgbtq community is invigorated, not discouraged, by its history. Even your pillar of white heterosexual superior masculinity, Caitlyn Jenner, has had the courage to give the middle finger to your bullshit gender ideals and openly join the relentless cause. And it makes a difference — I’m hearing that people who didn’t understand the plight of lgbtq people before are much more open to it now, after Caitlyn Jenner’s reveal, and are actually much less averse to opening doors for trans people. It’s a shame it took a celebrity to do it…but yes, it’s happening right in front of your face, and it’s going to happen more.
I mean…these people, they’re so goddamn tenacious, that the military — that bastion of highly policed gender roles — has an openly trans male sergeant even though it’s supposedly against the law. And you know what? His fellow soldiers love him to death and respect him profoundly. No, I’m sorry, you’re not going to have the privilege of a sanctimonious smile, like you have with other transgender individuals who have given their lives to fight for you, only to come back home and be rejected by you, you disrespectors of the troops. And soon, bigots, relentless trans people, like the relentless lesbian and gay people can do already, will be able to openly enlist and defend their country from people who, like you, want to take away their freedoms.
And we’re taking over your pastors, too. Oh, we love your pastors. Some of your most sanctimonious “Hate the sin, Love the sinner” pastors and politicians are also secretly relentlessly gay. Here’s a small recent list. Must be so terrifying for you. I mean, you can’t even trust your own leaders! At least we know ours are who they say they are. When yours get revealed, they are some of the best goddamn (involuntary) advocates we’ve got, haha.
It hurts, doesn’t it, you bigots?
Yes, I called you a bigot. And you’re free to be offended by that, but, um…did you die? No. Did you commit suicide just now? No. So I do not care. I’m gonna call a spade a spade, and it’s hypocritical of you to call me rude. No, I’m sorry, we’re not all going to just politely stand by while you make the misery of the lgbtq community your little plaything. You’re in our house, now, know it or not. Chickens coming home to roost.
You can go to your bigoted churches and use the bigoted words of bigots who wrote years ago that lgbt “lifestyles” were a sin. You can say you’re going to fight against this decision so that your heterosexual relationships will reign superior. But you’re gonna lose. The lgbtq community and its rapidly growing band of allies is strong, it’s determined, and it’s not gonna stop.
As a reminder, today is the 46th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The lgbtq movement before 1969 hid in corners, intimidated into silence. You all routinely beat people for their orientation. I mean, it was even against the law to serve an openly gay person at a bar (as the video below discusses), and you guys could beat up lgbtq people without fearing the police (indeed, your police beat them up, too), and you could shame them into silence. You may long for those days to continue, or dream of them coming back, but they aren’t gonna. Why? Because they sat there and took it? No.
It’s because in 1969, something snapped.
When policemen tried to kick them out of an illegal gay bar called Stonewall, where they hid to drink because they could not drink publicly, they fought back. They fought back the riot police, and won — for the next year, thousands strong, they marched, openly gay, thousands strong, through goddamn Central Park. And every year since then, in Pride Parades.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFxpQG7nBQ[/youtube]
No longer would the lgbtq community sit down and take it. The fight had begun, and it continued in marches, in speeches, in academia, in politics, in churches, in the streets, in families, in celebrity culture. Everywhere. And it’s determined and strong.
Yeah. This is who you’re dealing with.
I mean, as recently as 2008 over half the states had constitutional amendments denying the right to same-sex marriage. And now, in record time, just seven years later and after rapid invalidation of all those bullshit amendments, same-sex marriage is completely legal.
And public opinion is relentlessly in favor of same-sex marriage, as well. Ten years ago, in August 2005, 37% of people were in favor of same-sex marriage, and 59% were against it. Now, in May 2015, 60% are in favor of same-sex, and only 37% are against it. And the numbers are climbing.
You think you’re motivated? You should see the lgbtq community and its allies. You don’t know motivation. You have no idea what’s coming when people are this relentlessly lgbtq. We’re loud, we’re proud, we’re strong, we’re strategic, we’re exuberant, we’re determined, and we’re not going to stop.
Oh, you thought we were done? We’re not done. Not by a long shot. We hardly even got started. Because we’re going to make lgbtq people a protected class in this country. That’s what’s coming next. I know you love having the right to fire people because of their sexual orientation or chosen gender, but we’re going to make sure we don’t give you that pleasure. You may smile today as the same-sex couple tries to check in their hotel room, all smiles, because of your smugness about “the proper role of marriage,” but tomorrow you’ll have to book that couple while they make out right in front of you at the check-in counter. You may be able to evict same-sex couples when they declare their married status because you would rather them be homeless than be an eyesore, but tomorrow you’ll have to just get over it, and if you don’t congratulate them everyone will see you as the bigot you are. You might deny a loan to someone because they are married to someone of the same sex, but tomorrow you’ll have to grant it and just sit there and fucking take it while they look lovingly into each other’s eyes. You may be able to expel their children from your whitewashed, sanctimonious Christian colleges, but tomorrow you’ll have to watch your words when they talk lovingly about their parents in class if you don’t want to get a pink slip.
You didn’t think this was the end, did you? We’re just getting started. You’re angry? You think that’s going to motivate you? Well, we’re looking at casualties right and left of people we love, widespread abuse, and we’re angrier. You think you love your spouse and children and want to protect the “sanctity of marriage” so that you can have sex without worrying about “the gays”? Well, I’ve seen ceremonies of same-sex couples finally getting married after years, having the love they have not granted, but denied. Some couples have fought for 50 years to get married. They aren’t going to stop now.
You’re still alive and breathing? You’re able to make out in public without being afraid of getting pummeled? You can adopt children? You don’t have the discrimination lgbtq people face?
Then excuse me if I don’t give a shit about your bigoted feelings. I’m too busy fighting for the people your smug self-righteous bigoted ignorance is murdering and abusing.
And we won, and we’re going to keep winning, and you’re going to join us either willingly or kicking and screaming, but these changes are going to happen.
Your sermons and your money and your power is no match for the true love the lgbtq community feels.
Join the movement of love or get pushed out the goddamn way of the relentlessly lgbtq community and its allies.
Thanks for reading.