When we attempt to take advantage of our fairly won marriage victory by going through the rituals and routines it encompasses, that same religious horde conjures up the argument that innocent inquiries into wedding shops and bakeries or desires to simply start a family via foster care or adoption are actually strategic plots to undermine and destroy Christianity. And that people and industries whose so-called religious beliefs would never be "protected" if they were exploited to deny service because of race, religion, or gender suddenly need a blanket of protection against the gay community because we are acting as if we are normal Americans.
Don't be fooled by the lies folks say regarding the law in Oklahoma, the soon-to-become law in Kansas, and several other similar laws which allow adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against gays while receiving tax dollars.
The proponents of these contraptions masquerading as bills and laws will claim that agencies doing a service shouldn't have to betray their "core beliefs." Then they will tell you exaggerated anecdotes and spin awful tales of how supposedly gays are targeting Christians for financial ruin and how that these laws are the only thing standing between having successful businesses and people losing their homes, livelihood, etc.
Their spin is so good that you tend to forget that behind it is a syndicate of religious zealots and organizations with lots of money, lots of media savvy, a lot of connections to government, and a self-righteous mindset which makes them immune to any type of self-examination that doesn't end with God coming down from Heaven and anointing them with crowns while a host of angels sing their praises.
Let me speak for other side of the issue, i.e. the men, women, children, and families who are and will be damaged by these laws. No one is paying attention to us. No one seems to care about our core beliefs or our livelihoods while preening, precisely coiffed men and women ooze fake sincerity as they repeat rehearsed talking points about "religion being this nation's cornerstone," etc. etc.
LGBTQs work hard for our my money and we pay taxes. It's safe to say that majority of us don't mind paying taxes if the money is going to something which will make life better for others.
But that doesn't mean we want to be treated with disrespect. It doesn't mean that the government should be allowed to use our tax dollars in a way which harms us. And on a personal level, that's what these laws do to us. Not only do these laws denigrate us by eliminating our worth as taxpayers, but the message they send goes deeper than any talk of dollars.
The American LGBTQ community is very diverse. However, when it comes to the abuse we have been exposed to, be it physical, verbal, spiritual, and mental, our stories converge. And a sad facet of this convergence are the messages sometimes given to us by our parents, our community, or society at large. That message is we are degenerate, we are sick, we aren't normal and don't have the right to normal things.
And that includes the ability to have and raise families.
When heterosexual men and women accidentally become parents, society hardly bats an eye. When a gay couple or a single gay man or lesbian adopts a child, right away there is a religious horde implying that we are treating children like pets.
When we go to court and win the right to marry fair and square, that same religious horde swoops down to obscure our victory by claiming that we had the help of "activist judges."
When we attempt to take advantage of our fairly won marriage victory by going through the rituals and routines it encompasses, that same religious horde conjures up the argument that innocent inquiries into wedding shops and bakeries or desires to simply start a family via foster care or adoption are actually strategic plots to undermine and destroy Christianity. And that people and industries whose so-called religious beliefs would never be "protected" if they were exploited to deny service because of race, religion, or gender suddenly need a blanket of protection against the gay community because we are acting as if we are normal Americans.
That's what it's all about, i.e. the continuation of the message given to the LGBTQ community that some people's desire to exploit their religion in order to treat us as second class citizens is more important than our dignity and right to self-determination. And that no matter how we have played by the rules to win what should have been ours in the first place, we will always be second class citizens and undeserving of our victories.
The LGBTQ community has been beaten and battered by wild accusations and conspiracy theories for as long as I can remember. The entities behind this crop of anti-LGBTQ adoption bills have always found a way to hide their animus towards us by claiming we are the aggressors while they are merely trying to "protect" or "save."
It's an old technique, but highly effective because very few to want to catch on. "Homosexuals recruit children" easily transforms into "homosexuals want special rights." That mantra easily transforms into "we have to protect marriage from the homosexuals" to finally "homosexuals want to force people to betray their personally held religious beliefs."
Nothing good is protected or saved. The only thing which happens is that some folks have found a new way to hide their homophobia and prejudices while controlling the narrative. And the humiliating message telling the LGBTQ community that we are second-class citizens is received yet again.
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