I freely admit I stole this from Dan Savage...

...but he took the words RIGHT out of my mouth:

'And speaking of the so totally holy and super-sacred institution of marriage...
When two dudes marry, the marriage-is-between-one-man-and-one-woman brigades crap their collective pants, vomit up ten thousand press releases, and run in circles screaming about all the hurricanes and earthquakes and unattractive haircuts that Our Loving Father™ is gonna rain down on our heads if we don't pry Adam off Steve right fucking now.
Well, the one-man-and-one-woman crowd has been strangely silent about this polygamist sect in Texas that's been all over the news. It appears that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been organizing marriages/statutory rapes between one man and dozens or more women and/or girls. "Where's the outrage?" writes a reader, which prompted me to go looking for some outrage at the website of Concerned Women for America (http://www.cwfa.org/). There are more anti-gay-marriage press releases packed onto CWFA's website than there is fudge packed into all the homos in all the Sodoms in all of North America. But there's not one single word that I could find about these straight men in Texas violating the holy and sacred one-man-and-one-woman rule. What gives?

The Truth

On April 25th, thousands of students had the opportunity to voluntarily participate in an annual 'Day of Silence' in support of their GLBTQ classmates who have suffered bullying and violence as a result of homophobia. In response to this successful annual event, the Alliance Defense Fund, one of those anti-gay conservative groups hosted their 'Day of Truth' protest which apparently was not as successful, since virtually all references to it online ceased about 2 days before the event.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7517.html

A supporter of ADF responded to this article by saying this:

Joe wrote:
"The truth is that being gay is wrong and immoral.Personally I don't care if you are gay or not, but when groups like GLSEN start to infiltrate our schools and try to indoctrinate our Children I draw the line.The reason that the ADF doesn't have more support is that most parents don't know that GLSEN had infiltrated our public schools starting at the Kidder Garden level.As more and more are being made aware of this, ADF is gaining support. "

You know me, I can't resist telling the truth. Here's my response:

No, it isn't. That isn't truth...it's conjecture on your part.

The truth is there is nothing immoral or wrong about the ability to love another human being, gay or straight.

The truth is there is no 'infiltration' and no 'indoctrination' of children in schools.

The truth is fundamentalists coined these phrases as part of the 'dumbing down' of their followers(read 'voters.')

The truth is that instead of accepting the opinions of thousands upon thousands of medical, psychological, psychiatric, sociologic and pediatric professionals who all say the same thing, fundamentalists expect you to follow along with their hate filled agenda like good little sheep, voting for discriminitory laws and supporting legislation that deprives good, honest, tax paying citizens of their basic fundamental rights based solely on the gender of their partners. They do this by insulting your intelligence through the use of these typical inflammatory buzzwords designed to engender strong negative feelings in people in an effort to illicit the response they want.

The truth is that children need education regarding diversity and tolerance. Tolerance does not mean acceptance...it just means 'live and let live.' Have your beliefs, believe in them with all your heart if you choose to, but don't force them onto people who have a different truth than you, especially when their truth is backed up by thousands of professionals, and yours comes only from your choice of religion.

The truth is diversity and tolerance education makes the world a safer place to be - from people just like you.

Oh, and 'kidder garden?' Lol...dumbing down, indeed.

I chose to be gay the same day you chose to be straight...

'Show me irrefutable, scientic proof that being gay is a gene that you are born with. Show me how you equate homosexuality with the color of one's skin. Show me where it says in the Bible that God created Adam to be with Steve or Dave, and that homosexuality is not wrong. Show me that changing the definition of marriage to include homoseuxality won't encourage other "alternate" lifestyles to have the definition changed to fit their wims. Don't tell me that there is all kinds of research going on.....I know that, I follow the news. Show me that you are BORN gay.'

-pa resident post commenting on a letter to the editor regarding the proposed legislation banning marriage equality

Oh great..another 'christian' demanding proof of a gay gene. How fascinating that those who profess a belief in a supernatural God, for which no scientific proof exists, demand that same scientific proof when it comes to a person's sexual orientation. There's no specific gene that has been isolated for left handedness either, but you don't hear people running around saying 'being left handed is a choice' anymore. If they did, they would be laughed right out of the room. Homosexuality is no more a choice than heterosexuality. Some people are born gay, just like some people are born black, or left handed or with blue eyes. Marriage traditions in the bible included polygamy, a widow having to marry her dead husband's brother, a rape victim having to marry her rapist, among other atrocities that obviously would not be acceptable in this day and age. It's interesting how some christians will overlook these bible examples, but still believe that their idea of 'traditional marriage' is the only one that God condones. Nowhere in the bible are loving, committed same sex relationships looked upon in a negative light. Nowhere. Two women or two men falling in love and choosing to express that love through marriage would cause not one single bit of harm to you, to your marriage, nor to the 'sacred institution' of marriage.

"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."

That quote is credited to Anne Lamott. It's one of my favorites.

There is a growing and hotly contested debate amongst progressive and more conservative Christians regarding what God and the Bible really say about homosexuality. On the one side are Christians who believe it is a 'sin' to be homosexual, and that God condemns all acts, including acts between same-gender couples, even if they are married. On the other side, there are a growing number of christians and biblical scholars, gay and straight alike, who don't see it the same way.

I'm not going to waste my time debating scripture, since I'm sure most people have already heard and either accepted or dismissed anything anyone has to say about it. All it proves is that different people can get very different messages from God and from the same bible, and not a single one of us can know which message is 'right.' Personally, I don't even think it's about who's right or wrong, because all we really know is the truth that God has placed on each of our hearts.

I know for a fact that MY God - the one who created me just as I am, loves me, redeems and sustains me - would NEVER condemn me for my sexual orientation, which is as innate and God-given as my eye color and right handedness.

This is God's truth to me...and I share it with as many people as I can in hopes that they can wade through the negative and judgemental messages that so many 'christians' feel the need to share. The only thing these 'christians' are really doing is driving gay and lesbian people, who KNOW that their sexual orientation is not a choice, away from God. Why put your faith in a God who would condemn you for something you can't change about yourself? Driving people away from God is not a Christian's job. Yet it is what countless 'christians' have done when they spread this message.

I have to ask, are you really serving God when this is the outcome of your words? I think not.

OMG! Can people really be THIS stupid?

I frequent a discussion board called Topix.net. It features various news stories followed by reader comments and discussion. Any time there is a story about anything related to gay or lesbian people, it seems the 'christofascists' come out in force to spread the most awful and degrading lies I have every heard. Sometimes I wonder how these people can call themselves 'christian' and keep a straight face.

Today someone was actually trying to convice people that homosexual acts are the CAUSE of AIDS. No matter how many times it was pointed out to him that AIDS is caused by a virus and no matter how many links to correct information he was provided with, he still insisted that no, AIDS was caused by two gay people having sex. Can people really be this stupid? Another poster kept insisting that the APA still considers homosexuality a mental disorder, only they now call it 'gender identity disorder,' when in reality 'gender identity disorder' has nothing at all to do with sexual orientation, as a quick google search of the APA will clearly tell you.

It's scary the kinds of beliefs people will hold onto in spite of factual evidence to the contrary. I think it's called 'cognitive dissonance' -the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one's beliefs (thanks wiki). The example of this phenomenon I was given in college was something like this: WWI prisoners who were systematically rounded up and marched off for execution were routinely told they were going somewhere else for a purpose other than execution, and although they had seen their neighbors marched off the day before and not return, although they had heard the gunfire at the edge of town, the prisoners chose to believe their captors and go with them willingly. I think those who hold negative views of gay people are caught up in this pattern of cognitive dissonance. They have been told all their lives by society, by their families, by their pastors, by other religious zealots that being gay is a choice, that it isn't a natural thing, that homosexuals are going to hell. In spite of all the evidence suggesting the innate state of sexual orientation, despite knowledge that homosexuality, while certainly not the majority, is a natural variant of sexual orientation and is found in at least 1000 species of the animal kingdom, in spite of a growing recognition by religious scholars that the translations of the bible are not concrete, that homosexuality is NOT a harmful behavior and therefore cannot be a sin, some people continue to twist and filter the information, in an effort to reinforce their beliefs.

Hate groups like NARTH and the AFA prey on these people...and are guilty of using inflammatory speech and spreading terrible lies to reinforce these beliefs in an effort to further their political agenda to block equal rights legislation for gay and lesbian people. How do I know this to be true, and not just 'liberal propaganda?' I listened to what they were saying. I went to their websites and researched, checking their info against the info from the AMA, APA and many other credible sources. I started noticing that every time I would do an internet search for something related to gay/lesbian/bisexual or transgender issues, I would get a bunch of religious websites. So, I did a google search of just the term 'homosexuality.' Of the top ten listings, six are religious based websites offering their viewpoint, instead of factual information. This clearly tells me that there is an agenda...and it definitely isn't 'that gay one.' Thank God there are people out there, both gay and straight alike, who are willing to speak the truth.

Okay, that's my rant for the day.

Proud to be an American - no, really....

Recently I received an email from a family member with one of those attachments...you know the ones - emotionally charged pictures of American history, historic tragedies like 9/11, and commentary on the 'war on Terror' usually with a good country music song like 'Proud to be an American' or something like that as a backdrop. The presentation included comments like - let's keep 'Him' in our constitution and our schools, etc. It illicited many strong feelings in me as I watched it.

It's good to remember tragic history and to feel patriotic.

I had to ask my family member, though...what were her true thoughts regarding keeping 'christian traditions' embedded in our civil law?

As an American, I strongly believe that dissent IS patriotic...it's our right as Americans to question the government. As both a lesbian AND a Christian, I have difficulty with the whole 'Keep Him in our Constitution & schools' thing.

Legislating based on religious beliefs is a very large part of why I don't have equal protection and am denied access to the more than 1000 rights, benefits and privileges that are associated with marriage. This concerns me, because my God, the one who created me just as I am, loves me, redeems me and sustains me, is being used to justify this blatant disregard of my basic, fundamental rights. I have been told, personally, on more than one occassion by people professing to be christians that I cannot be gay and christian because my 'lifestyle' is 'sick and deviant' and God condemns me for it, that no matter how honestly and faithfully I live my life, I am going to hell because I 'choose' to live in direct rebellion of 'God's Word,' and that my christian church isn't a true church because they are open and affirming of all people. I'm fortunate to have such a strong faith in God that these words have little effect on me anymore. My faith is and always will be stronger than bigotry. The important thing I have learned about religion is that it should NEVER be used to make laws or deny equal rights.

While current legislation regarding equal rights for all is slowly changing, there is a vast 'christian' movement who continue to thwart this progress any way they can, including spreading vicious and horrible lies about gay and lesbian people (just google OK state rep Sally Kern, as an example) and introducing legislation that opposes equal rights for no other reason than their religious beliefs. Many of the horrific tragedies reviewed in the presentation my family member sent me are glaring examples of religious extremist behavior, and should serve as a reminder of what can happen when a country does not recognize freedom of (and from) religion. Religion is a personal thing, and should remain so. It should never be used to dictate civil law.

What do you think? It's a topic very close to my heart, and I love discussing it with people.