When it comes to people who hide behind their religion while attacking us gays, we need to be clear about something.
First check this out from Religious Right Watch:
The thing which is sadder than Hakimian's ridiculous screed is that if we as a community cried foul, he, Tony Perkins, Donald Wildmon, and other members of the religious right would call US the bullies.
No matter how these folks push the false notion that they are "talking about the lifestyle," the fact remains that they are talking about us as people.
We haven't called them out. They've called us out.
The late lesbian poet Audre Lorde once said "your silence will not protect you." Allow me to paraphrase her words when speaking to people like Hakimian and other denizens of the religious right:
Your religion will not protect you from criticism. You don't know us and based upon your words, you do not care to know us.
That's fine. Lgbtqs don't exist to get in your so-called good graces. Nor do we seek "tolerance" from you like some pet who has urinated on your favorite rug.
You can believe what you want and you can say what you want. But when you start talking about us, don't expect us to sit in a corner and cry. And above all, don't expect us to take your abuse with the pitiful good nature of a battered spouse.
We are not "things" nor are we "trapped in a lifestyle." We are human beings and we will not settle for less than being treated like human beings. Your religion does not entitle you to take verbal potshots at us without the courtesy of a highly angry response nor does it entitle you to freely lie about who we are without the courtesy of a stern correction. Our lives will not be dictated by your fevered imaginations of what we allegedly do in the bedrooms. Nor will you restrict every aspect of our lives to those fevered imaginations.
I don't care if you speak in tongues, can heal the sick, or raise the dead. You don't have rights and privileges above us. You never have and you never will.
Basically, it comes down to this - if you can't handle our response, don't call us out in the first place.
First check this out from Religious Right Watch:
Jack Hakimian is a Florida pastor who is turning into something of a Religious Right martyr after the North Miami public schools rebuked him for delivering anti-gay screeds on school property. Today, Hakimian took his case to American Family Radio, where he complained of “censorship” by gay groups. He said gay rights advocates “know that if we keep debating from biology, from theology and from sociology that homosexuality is not a healthy lifestyle, it’s not God’s plan, we will persuade people’s minds,” and so those advocates “want to destroy our presence.”
The thing which is sadder than Hakimian's ridiculous screed is that if we as a community cried foul, he, Tony Perkins, Donald Wildmon, and other members of the religious right would call US the bullies.
No matter how these folks push the false notion that they are "talking about the lifestyle," the fact remains that they are talking about us as people.
We haven't called them out. They've called us out.
The late lesbian poet Audre Lorde once said "your silence will not protect you." Allow me to paraphrase her words when speaking to people like Hakimian and other denizens of the religious right:
Your religion will not protect you from criticism. You don't know us and based upon your words, you do not care to know us.
That's fine. Lgbtqs don't exist to get in your so-called good graces. Nor do we seek "tolerance" from you like some pet who has urinated on your favorite rug.
You can believe what you want and you can say what you want. But when you start talking about us, don't expect us to sit in a corner and cry. And above all, don't expect us to take your abuse with the pitiful good nature of a battered spouse.
We are not "things" nor are we "trapped in a lifestyle." We are human beings and we will not settle for less than being treated like human beings. Your religion does not entitle you to take verbal potshots at us without the courtesy of a highly angry response nor does it entitle you to freely lie about who we are without the courtesy of a stern correction. Our lives will not be dictated by your fevered imaginations of what we allegedly do in the bedrooms. Nor will you restrict every aspect of our lives to those fevered imaginations.
I don't care if you speak in tongues, can heal the sick, or raise the dead. You don't have rights and privileges above us. You never have and you never will.
Basically, it comes down to this - if you can't handle our response, don't call us out in the first place.
5 comments:
Uggh - I actually had to pause Funkadelic's "Music for My Mother" to listen to that dreck!
Religious people don't know how to handle me. I know their doctrine and dogma and can shove it right back at them.
"You don't have rights and privileges above us. You never have and you never will."
I like that. Nicely said.
I usually say, "Choosing to be religious doesn't give you permission to discriminate against other people."
People like this make me sick. Don't dish out what you yourself can't handle.
When will people finally admit that being a christian is a choice- they choose their church, chose what to believe - lets be honest about the Christian lifestyle and the true damage that choice makes in our society
Alvin, this might just be the best article of yours I’ve read yet. It hits every nail right on the head, and it’s brilliantly and passionately written. This needs to go viral.
Religion has gotten special treatment for decades. Whenever any anti-discrimination law is passed at any level of government, there’s always an exemption for religious organizations. And for years, people (including LGBTs) have muted our criticisms of the words and actions of religious people because, well, “it’s their religion.” Time to stop handing out the free passes.
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