Tuesday, June 26, 2012

HOMELESS LGBT YOUTH


...when statistics show that as many as 40% of the nation’s homeless youth are gay or transgender, compared to 3-5% of the overall youth population, we have to acknowledge that we’re facing a crisis. The disparity suggests that gay and transgender youth stand a much higher chance of becoming homeless because of abuse, neglect and familial rejection due to sexual orientation or gender identity that drive them to the streets.The kids on the Christopher Street Pier that day, and the other gay and transgender youth living on the streets who make up the 40% have done nothing wrong, other than being born the way they were supposed to be.  And because of who they are, these kids have been forced to leave their homes, subjected to abuse or worse.

[For the full article, see here.]

Homophobic clergy can be seen to be the major factor when parents kick their kids out of the house, forcing them to be homeless, because their children came out to them, thinking that they could trust their parents to understand and unconditionally love them.  Indeed, this is the way it would be were it not for homophobic clergy's influence in lying about same-sex attraction and love!

All too many people believe the lies emanating from the ignorance and/or hatred of these clergy, and that is one of the reasons why churches should not enjoy tax exempt status, and why one of the best methods of activism is to choose one homophobic church in a given city or jurisdiction and consistently, and continuously, picket that church every Sunday during their services, telling people that  that church is preaching a false Gospel, and is diametrically opposed to Jesus' teachings.

Homophobic clergy are erroneously felt to be speaking for God, and erroneously felt to be correctly interpreting the Bible!  These assumptions are not true!  And any parent who would kick their Gay child out of the house is engaging in the demonic, as is any clergy who says that being Gay is "disordered" and is a "sin."  

Just because someone turns his collar around doesn't necessarily make him/her a person of God!  He/she might well be working for the devil!
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Monday, June 18, 2012

LGBT PEOPLE ARE NOT "QUEER"

I believe that many people who are interested in fighting for equal rights for Gay people, make a fundamental mistake in equating "Queer people" with "Gay people."

I once wrote the following email to my good friend, Don Charles who blogs at Ignorance is Plentiful.

These "Queers" are not empathic with "Gay" rights, as they are far more "Queer" than "Gay" in their self-conceptions and identities. As I said before, I haven't worked it through, but I'm beginning to think that there is a far greater difference between "Queer" and "Gay" regarding sexual identity and the very emotional/sexual essence of the person than mere use of self-labels, and that may well be why we have hit so many stone walls in advocating for equal rights among "Gay" people. The "Queers" don't really want equal rights because their agendas, as their identities, are as inimical to equal rights as are homophobes, albeit for perhaps different reasons.

A few years ago, I wrote an article entitled, On The Need To Grow Up, which was largely met by hostile responses from those who chose to comment on it. Don Charles wrote two articles defending my position entitled.  "In Defense of Growing Up," and "The Necessary Pain of Growing Up," part 1 and part 2.  As with mine, his articles were met with largely similar negative reactions by those who chose to comment.

The distinction between the two labels: "Queer" and "Gay" escaped me at that time, as I was very surprised, to say the least, at the outrage against both of our posts that suggested what we felt were constructive means to achieve equal rights. I was oblivious to the profound distinction that might well exist between "Queers" and "Gays" that may well reflect their respective desires for equal rights as well as their different emotional/sexual orientations that determine, despite all rhetoric, their respective desires for engaging in dialogue about meaningful ways to achieve equal civil rights.

It seems to me that those who identify as Gay may well be more affectionally oriented; those who identify as Queer may well be more sexually oriented.  That doesn't mean that the latter aren't affectionally oriented or that the former aren't sexually oriented; it means that affection is likely to take second place to the sexual aspect of their identities and relationships by those who choose to identify as "queer."

By publicly sexualizing the self, those who identify as "queer" are consciously or unconsciously affirming the negative stereotypes of homophobes and many potential Straight allies who see Gay people merely as one-dimensional people with avaricious sexual appetites; they thereby retard and betray the cause of equal rights for LGBT people, and seek to "justify" the vicious stereotypes promulgated by the most virulent religious and secular homophobes who often monopolize the media.

Those who identify as "queer" make some fundamental mistakes in insisting on using that word, as many do who use that and other such hateful words with which to identify themselves.  Many use such a word as a self-identifier mistakenly thinking that it is somehow "empowering" and/or that it "reclaims" a word that never belonged to them. However, the truth is that such a word as "queer" actually belongs to those who despise, ridicule, bash, and kill LGBT people, and have historically done so.

To use hateful words as self-identifiers denotes self-loathing, whether or not the user of that word realizes it or not.  It is very important to realize that the very last word a Gay person hears as he/she is being bashed into unconsciousness or killed is that very word that many Gay people use as a self-identifier!

Moreover, those who identify as "queer" in the post-Stonewall era are likely to be relatively comfortable, if not relish, pariah or second class status; those who identify as gay or lesbian are more likely to want to be part of the mainstream, and have much more of a desire for equal rights, and engage in more meaningful activism that will be likely to achieve those rights by their greater appeal to potential Straight allies.

It is very important for future generations to have and exhibit self-respect and dignity, be they Gay or Straight.  And using hateful words as self-identifiers by Gay people shows lack of self-respect and dignity, and does not provide the grounding necessary for self-respect and dignity to occur for LGBT children now and in future generations.


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Sunday, June 17, 2012

EILEEN'S AND MY 50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

This is a picture of my wife, Eileen, and I who are celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary today.  Even after all of these years, she is the Light of my Life and the Desire of my Eyes.
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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

I recently gave an interview to Beto McQuade of "Unnamed Sources," dealing with a variety of subjects related to LGBT Rights.  The one-half hour interview can be found on the June 1, 2012 podcast.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unnamed-sources-podcast/id532739705
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