Another litany of hate
Hate speech against GBLT people is as virulent as it is common. And it’s toxic and dangerous. Our young hear it and are devalued and dehumanised, discouraged and debased. Our oppressors and attackers hear it and are encouraged, emboldened and justified. We hear it and we are wounded, afraid and enraged.
Hate speech is dangerous. Sticks and stones may break our bones - but words will encourage them to be thrown. Words will encourage the authorities not to care when they are thrown. Words will make us hate ourselves, will make us accept a lesser status, will make us self-harm and fall prey to addiction and suicide. Words will strip us of basic rights, of equality. Words will keep us from marrying, words will lose us jobs, will lose us homes. Words will cost us friendships and family and community. Words will make us unsafe, words will make us afraid, words will turn the world against us.
Make no mistake - words hurt us.
Irish Catholics, most particularly 3 Irish Bishops are attacking civil unions. Not marriage you note - civil unions. Because even expressly non-religious unions for gays are such a threat to their religious ideals. They have also spoken of fighting the law in the courts, in a desperate attempt to force their hatred on gay people.
Of course, Irish Christians aren’t the only ones trying to push their homophobia wherever they can. They are outraged that religious organisations can bless gay unions - if they choose to do so. See, everyone should follow their bigotry and believe in their hatred. They don’t fight for religious freedom - they fight for universal conformity
In a disgusting reversal of our anti-discrimination rules, a Catholic adoption society has won the right to be bigoted against gay people. How is this even considered a charity when it openly discriminates? How can our anti-discrimination laws count as ANYTHING when they can be so easily undermined by religious bigots?
Pastor Wayne Sapp (ah, a religious man. Expect some really nasty hate here) in Florida, confronted with the ZOMG openly gay mayor (the horror, the horror) sprints to the lunatic fringe of hatred. You tube took down the video because of its virulent hatred - which, considering the content is no surprise
In the US, Chai Feldblum, a Lesbian has been appointed as commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The religious right, such paragons of morality and goodness - have naturally had a proper little hateful temper tantrum over this. Hatred and lies mixed together with lots of poison - typical fare from the religious right
Out Lesbian mayor of Houston, Annise Parker, has passed a wonder range of anti-discrimination ordinances in the city to protect LGBT people from discrimination and persecution. Everyone has a right to be treated with dignity as a human being. Of course, a coalition of clergy from Houstan disagrees. Why are we not surprised?
The Catholic church and its supporters have been fighting fiercely to ensure the saturate the world with their hate speech, maybe to distract from their appalling child abuse scandal? Indeed, Catholic defender Bill Donahue has already tried to blame the child abuse on gays. Not to be out-homophobed by an unofficial hack, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state and the “pope’s no.2” has decided that blaming gays is a great idea and has joined Donahue in blaming us for their raping of children. These bigots have no shame
In fact, their blaming of us for their repeated rape of children is so vile that I can almost ignore Italian Bishop Francesco Nolè declaring that gays should not only be denied communion - but don’t deserve funerals either.
This hate matters, make no mistake about that - especially coming from such positions of authority and strength. And just because it comes from the pulpit doesn’t make it acceptable or any less damaging - quite the opposite in fact.