Y’all know I don’t usually “get political” on my blog (I usually save those rants for Facebook and Twitter) but I’m going to today. Yesterday was the start of Pride month.
I’m sure there are some readers who might say, “Oh, don’t get political!” But the very nature of what I mostly write IS political.
Here’s the thing–if you have the option to want to “not make things political,” it means you’re coming from a place of privilege where you are lucky enough to not be directly negatively impacted by whatever you’re asking people not to politicize.
There are people out there who aren’t that lucky.
I deleted a comment on one of my Facebook posts where the person was genuinely confused WHY the LGBTQ community is still fighting for equality. “What rights don’t they already have?”
Uh, how about here in the US an administration actively trying to strip them of rights? A homophobic vice-president who is a former governor who pushed gay conversion therapy (which is harmful garbage torture, anyway, and is being actively banned in many places because it is harmful garbage torture) and under whose term saw a massive explosion in the AIDS epidemic because he refused to fund programs PROVEN to help reduce the spread of AIDS? How about an administration that’s actively working to try to reverse the marriage equality act?
How about an administration trying to strip healthcare and job and other protections from LGBTQ and especially trans people? How about an administration working to actively remove trans military service members from active duty and deny them benefits and health care? How about an administration who is actively seeking legal protection for religious organizations who handle adoptions to discriminate against the LGBTQ community to refuse adoptions to gay and lesbian parents?
How about anti-trans bathroom laws? I’ve got news for you–I feel safer in a bathroom with a transperson of ANY gender than with a conservative lawmaker. And FYI, contrary to what that asshat Catholic bishop tweeted yesterday, children are SAFER at a Pride event than they are in any given Catholic church. (And there are more than a few other denominations of churches where children are being attacked by sexual predators. It seems the more “godly” they claim to be, the more the chances of them being a sexual predator rise.)
#hateisNOTafamilyvalue
Just because YOU aren’t being negatively impacted doesn’t mean others aren’t struggling for their very lives. The murders of trans women of color is on the rise. Hate crimes are climbing.
I’m proud to be a cis-het ally to the LGBTQ community because I have loved ones who fit on the rainbow. I have friends who fit on the rainbow.
If your “religion” doesn’t “approve” of them, well, fine, move out of our fucking way and go back to your bigot hole. Your religion stops at YOU. It does NOT allow you to discriminate against someone else. People do not choose to be on the rainbow. Really, some people think that (because some people are fucking inbred, knuckle-dragging swampcunt morons stupid). You think people CHOOSE to live a life where literally their lives are in danger just of because of who they love or what gender they express? REALLY?
(If you really believe that, then insert your choice of “how stupid are you” meme HERE, because it fits you.)
If you HONESTLY believe that, tell me when you ACTIVELY chose to be a cis-het person? (That means cisgendered as opposed to trans, and heterosexual.) No, seriously, I want to know the date you looked in the mirror and said, “You know what? I actively choose to be this particular gender, and I’m attracted to persons of the opposite gender.”
You actively CHOOSE a religion (even if raised in one). You do NOT choose your sexual orientation or gender. You’re born the way you’re born, period. This is already settled medical science. If you don’t believe that, then just GTFOH right this minute, because there’s obviously no reasoning with you, and I won’t waste spoons on someone who tries to justify their BIGOTRY with religiosity masked as pseudoscience. No, seriously, you’re a bigot. You might not like me calling you that, but if the shoe fits, sweetheart, lace that bitch up and wear it. Either you are for LGBTQ rights and equality, or you’re a bigot. There is no middle ground here. Just like you are for the rights of people of color, or you’re a bigot. THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND.
If you don’t “agree” with the LGBTQ community, fine, then don’t have a relationship that fits on that spectrum. But you do NOT get to discriminate against someone and claim “religious freedom.” Either human beings have rights, or they don’t. Either you’re a bigot, or you aren’t.
And don’t reply to me with a “not all ____” response. Yes, I know there are some out there who “don’t agree” with LGBTQ “lifestyles” (I hate that phrase, by the way–it’s their LIVES, not a “lifestyle”) but still support equal rights and protections. You’re unicorns, but I know there are a few of you out there, and good on you for being able to separate your religious beliefs from basic human rights.
“Well, why don’t we get a heterosexual pride month?”
Shut up and sit the fuck down, asshole. That’s called EVERY FUCKING DAY. You sound just as stupid as the morons who want “white pride” days. That’s called EVERY FUCKING DAY because it’s the societal GODDAMNED DEFAULT, YOU ASSCLOWN.
If you read my books, you cannot scold me for “getting political” because, obviously, you aren’t paying fucking attention when you read my books.
My books ABSOLUTELY ARE POLITICAL. Pretty much every last goddamned one of them. Because I see first-hand the shit my loved ones and friends go through.
FYI–there have ALWAYS been gay and lesbian and bi and trans and ______ other folks around. Since the dawn of goddamned time. They LEGITIMATELY FEARED DEATH. (And many still do, depending on where they are.) At the very least, they worried about their jobs, their family connections, their friends, and had to live stuffed deep into a closet for their own protection.
Now, they are more visible, but they were always there. You were just spared your fragile little egos because they kept themselves stuffed in a closet.
We’ve made some strides in recent decades, but it’s not nearly enough.
I will continue to write “political” books, because there are people out there who read them and find hope. There are people who read them and hopefully have their minds opened somewhat.
I will continue to write “political” books, because you might be happy that it’s just “those people” whose rights are being infringed upon, but it doesn’t take much for “those people” to suddenly become YOU being the one whose rights are being infringed upon.
Hate and bigotry are nasty, dirty things. You can try to spackle that steaming pile of shit with buttercream frosting all you want, it’s still a turd.
Maybe you’ll kid yourself and eat it, but the rest of us will not. You can sit there on the wrong side of what’s morally right and suffer being on the wrong side of history. Explain to your grandchildren that the opinion of your imaginary friend in the sky was far more important to you than the actual, living, beating heart of a person in pain.
I’ve read my Bible. I was raised Christian. (And actively CHOSE NOT TO BE ONE when I got older, BECAUSE RELIGION IS A FUCKING CHOICE.) Jesus doesn’t hate gays. He never said that anywhere.
And if you insist on saying he did, then maybe you should go back and actually READ the New Testament for yourself instead of relying on the word of some huckster standing on a pulpit and begging you for money every week.
And FYI, I’m one of those moms that if your own family has disowned you, then I’m your mom. Please, take care of yourself, be gentle with yourself, drink more water, take your meds, and make sure to eat something. Because I see you, I care for you, and I want you to keep living, because the world needs you. And I will keep fighting for you. ((HUGS))
(Comments are closed, because fucking DUH.)
(PS – If you don’t like what I just said and you feel the need to reply to me and say you’re going to delete/burn/whatever my books, don’t bother, honey. You already bought them. If you didn’t buy them, then you’re a thief in addition to a bigot, so you’re obviously not a very good whatever religion you claim to be, because I’m pretty sure all of the world’s major religions have a problem with thieves. If you have them in paper format, donate them to a library or someplace where people can enjoy them, instead of being the selfish bigot you obviously are. Oh, and fair warning, if you send me hate mail, I’m liable to post it with your name attached, so I’m sure your more liberal family/employer will love stumbling across that if they ever Google your ass. Because when it comes to PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS, this bitch doesn’t fuck around. And if you want to be a bigot, then you should fucking own it, sweetcheeks.)