A Letter to Mike Huckabee About Homophobia

Recently, Mike Huckabee was on “The View” offering his homophobic views on how gay rights don’t compare to civil rights because gay people haven’t suffered the oppression and abuse that African-Americans endured.

I would never claim the degree of oppression and abuse was equal to that of the African-American’s were subject to, but I will not agree the GLBT community has not been abused or endured suffering and oppression. I would like to add that I do not feel any amount of oppression and abuse should be tolerated.

I do not feel any group should have to endure any of these elements in order to gain equal rights. No matter the degree, amount or scale, abuse and oppression are wrong. Please watch what Mr. Huckabee had to say, then read my letter I wrote to him in response. You can also respond to Mr. Huckabee by following the contact link on his website.

Mr. Huckabee,

I am writing as I am extremely disappointed in your continued displays of homophobic behavior. It’s bad enough you had the likes of Janet Porter, who verbally abuses gays and lesbians on national radio work for your campaign, but now you have appeared on “The View” and have openly demonstrated hate and bigotry towards the GLBT community. You stated the Gay Rights movement is NOT the same as the Civil Rights movement because Gays and Lesbians have not endured the physical abuse or oppression that our African-American citizens once endured.

Now I will admit, the scale of events perhaps hasn’t been as large as the Civil Rights movement, but I will argue the suffering and abuse was any less.

I’m not sure if you’re aware of the Stonewall riots of 1969 or why they occurred, but it was because of suffering the GLBT community endured prior. Did you know it was once illegal for gay and or lesbian people to congregate? If they did, they could be arrested and fined and often times were. The police raids of gay and lesbian establishments lead to the physical abuse and even death of gay and lesbian persons. This was not an isolated incident, these events happened in many cities and towns nation wide.

What about Harvey Milk? Shot and killed for being openly gay. What about Matthew Sheppard? What about the thousands of others who died simply because they were gay?

Unlike the Civil Rights movement, you may have not “known” any gay people when you were growing up and living through the Civil Rights movement, but that’s because if they had come out, they would have been risking death as well. How is hiding who you are in order to protect your own safety and life NOT oppression?

You have NO idea of the suffering that has been endured by those in the GLBT community. I, for one, was fired from a job in 2003 simply for being gay. That action is still legal in 33 states.

Mr. Huckabee, I understand you have strong religious convictions, and those convictions do not allow you to accept gay people openly, but I challenge you to educate yourself enough to know that being gay is NOT a choice, and gay people suffer everyday simply for being who they are…who they were born as…who they love.

I would also like to mention that even though the “majority” of people in this country recently voted to deny gays and lesbians the right to marry, it still isn’t right. Once a majority of people believed in segregation. Once a majority of people believed women should not have the right to vote. Once a majority of people felt interracial marriage was wrong…but was the majority right? And f you really want to talk about majorities, once a majority of people thought the world was flat, so was it? And lastly on this point, since Christianity is NOT the majority religion in the world, should the majority religion be able to tell Christians who and how to worship?

Whether you know it or not, someone you love is gay, and whether you know them or not, someone gay is fighting for rights from which we will all benefit.

Mr. Huckabee, I am asking you to open your heart and mind, and lead the way to stopping hate!

Thank you!

This is NOT Stonewall 2.0 - This is Our Life!

There have been several posts on several blogs that are calling the fight for gay marriage “Stonewall 2.0”. As you may, or may not know, Stonewall refers to a series of random demonstrations and riots which were held in protest to police raids that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village section of New York. The riots are commonly known as the first instance in American history when the gay and lesbian community fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted homosexuals. Prior to the Stonewall riots, it was illegal for “homosexuals” to congregate, and often times when they did, they were subject to physical abuse and even arrest. Stonewall has since become the defining event that marked the start of the modern gay rights movement.

Here is where I beg to differ in use of the term. This is NOT Stonewall 2.0, this is a revolution. Whereas back in 1969 the GLBT community was fighting for the very right to exist without enduring physical abuse and jail sentences, we have now evolved to become a recognized part of the population who have a statistically higher rate of education and more buying power than our heterosexual adversaries, and we also have gained a great deal of political influence, recognized as a voting power, and having GLBT community members who serve in various political post at all levels of government.

The issues we are facing now are light years apart from the days when it was illegal to congregate, and we don’t need random riots to beg for tolerance. We need complete acceptance. We need to be recognized as equal citizens. This isn’t about gay rights, this is about human right, more than that, its about doing what’s right for all citizens.

We as a community have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. Again, this is not Stonewall 2.0. We are not simply fighting against being able to have a cocktail without going to jail, we are fighting to gain equality. This isn’t only about gay marriage, we are fighting to once and for all put and end to the hate and discrimination. We are fighting for our right to maintain a family. We are fighting to be. If we loose this fight, we will never gain equality and we will never be able to live our lives as full and complete citizens.
Let’s not reduce this to “Stonewall 2.0”. Take this for what it is. This is our future. This is our life!

A Consideration of LGBT Rights and the Church

But what is compelling about LGBT rights is precisely the opposite of his depiction of feminism - being LGBT is NOT a choice. What is natural is beyond human definition (that’s what makes it natural, not cultural). Even in the interview, Rodriguez asserts this dubious claim (albeit what he means by “sexual formation” may differ from what we think of as being an LGBT person, the language he uses does not assert such a difference).

“The possibility that we can form ourselves sexually — even form our sense of what a sex is — sets us apart from the traditional roles we were given by our fathers.”

Read the rest at Craftlessculture’s Weblog!

Mildred Loving Says Loving is For Everyone

When my late husband, Richard, and I got married in Washington, DC in 1958, it wasn’t to make a political statement or start a fight. We were in love, and we wanted to be married.

- Mildred Loving

In the summer of 1958, Mildred Jeter (a black woman) and Richard Loving (a white man) crossed state borders to marry in Washington, DC. After their marriage, they returned to Virginia and continued their relationship only to be arrested in the middle of the night and convicted of misogynistic crimes. Mildred Loving spoke out in defense of gay marriage on the 40^th anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia decision:

My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that… it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love…The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry…not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

The criminal convictions for interracial marriage and the brutal hate crimes that over shadowed the civil rights movement in the 60’s is different from the gay rights movement of today. Yet, the Loving’s story seems so familiar to gays and lesbians all across the country that leave their home state to marry the person they love.

Echoing the majority rule of Prop 8, the majority of people during the ruling of Loving v. Virginia believed that it was God’s intention to keep the races separate. It wasn’t until sometime after Brown v. Board of Education that interracial marriage was legalized.

The Virginia trial judge that convicted Mildred and Richard Loving declared that the

“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”

That sounds starkly similar to the argument of the religious right against gay marriage: “It is God’s intention that marriage be between a man and a woman.”

Using God as a wedge issue to elevate the majority and discriminate against the minority is not an innovative argument. Actually, the same verbiage used to describe interracial marriages as ungodly or unnatural is used to describe gay marriages today.

Although there are major differences between the experiences of the civil rights movement and the gay rights movement, let us remember that at one time the majority believed that interracial marriage was unnatural. Let us remember that at one time the majority believed that blacks should not have the right to vote or attend white schools.

If we are resilient and remember the history of our nation, one day America will rejoice in saying: At one time, the majority believed that gays should not have the right to marry.

Australia Boosts Rights for Same-Sex Couples

The Australian senate has passed legislation giving same-sex couples the same rights as straight heterosexual couples. The legislation which redefines the definition of a ‘de facto’ relationship to include gay and lesbian couples, extends equal rights in nearly 100 areas including tax, social security, health, aged care, employment and superannuation entitlements, thereby giving same-sex couples the exact same rights as opposite-sex couples living together in common-law relationships.

The Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Norway and most recently Nepal has legalized same-sex marriage.  South Africa is also moving towards the legalization of gay marriage.

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