Gay Rights

I don’t know how else to explain it more precisely than the “speaking cards” or papers that I had to show people:

Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discriminaton. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.

The only reason I decided to tape my mouth today the way I did is because I feel that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people do not have enough of a voice in today’s society. In our society, we tend to shun these people and label them as “disgusting” or “unnatural.” And that is outright wrong. I’m sorry if you think that way, but let me give you a reality check: they are people too. They deserve the same exact rights as anyone else. Since when did our country discriminate? I thought it ended with racism. And now we discriminate based on sexual orientation? Who are we to deny humans the right to happiness? Why are we unable to give them their rights; the right to marry and be like any other straight couple out there? Why do we have to treat them as if they are so disgusting and strange? What, because the Bible says being homosexual is wrong? Fuck that. If you are uncomfortable being around homosexual people, then I’m sorry. Walk away. Not everyone has to feel normal around homosexual people. But since when do we allow our personal feelings towards gay people to be reflected in the law? Why does it matter if a gay couple wants to get married? What role do you play in their lives, and what role do those people play in yours? For all we know, they may be halfway across the country. Miles away from you. And even if they live right next-door to you, so what? The government - and society as a whole - should not be allowed to determine whether or not LGBT are allowed to live happily ever after or not.

I’ve waited for an opportunity to write about one of the best passages I’ve come across while reading. This is from Chuck Klosterman’s Killing Yourself to Live:

Meanwhile, all this business about the gay New Hampshire clergyman makes the Episcopalians sound like marketing representatives; their fair (at least from the antigay contingent) is that electing a homosexual bishop will stop people from going to church. Nothing depresses me more than hearing an organized religion worry about membership. Do they think Jesus is somehow impressed by voter turnout? Do they think God gives preference to religions that appear especially popular? It’s not like God only allocates federal funding to religious organizations that meet a quota. Several callers also used this issue to moronically rail against the potential legalization of gay marriage. I find this profoundly depressing. In my opinion, we must legalize gay marriage. Gay males are the only men in America who still want to be married.”

You must have laughed while reading the above passage.

Not speaking for the entire day today at school, and putting tape across my mouth in my classes honestly probably did not do anything to give LGBT people their rights and the (same) respect they deserve. I knew that already though. I know I am not going to change the opinions of everyone else about gay people, because unfortunately, that’s just the way it is. If anything, I just wanted to make a statement. And for those of you who witnessed my silence, that exact silence is to mirror the silence that lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people have to face daily, at a much more massive scale, think about that next time, before you insult or discriminate against anyone who may be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

You know what else is funny? I’m pretty sure everyone in all of my classes now think that I am lesbian. Why? Because if they don’t know me, they will automatically assume that only L/G/B/T people would do this. As if they don’t deserve to have straight allies. As if anyone else who happened to participate in this day of silence had to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. And that’s just sad. Do these people not deserve support from straight people as well? Is our society really that pathetic? Come on, people.