Voice of the tolerant...
Bigots hide behind many names and rhetoric, and many are unrealized ones. Once again I am going to respond to some points made by a reader who wrote to the Akron Beacon Journal. I will not post the name here, but I include a link to the ABJ as reference just as I do any news story on which I comment. This man makes yet another flawed argument against same-sex marriage that made my skin want to crawl. And so I pick it to pieces here, and for good reason. For all those who suffer in some way because they do not have the same rights or equality as others, I cannot let this one slide by. If this is truely the voice of a tolerant person, God have mercy on humanity.
The title of his letter to the paper is "Slippery Slope of Gay Marriage." At first I thought he was going to delve into the usual rhetoric of polygamy, incest, and beastiality. No, he is better than that. He speaks about how most Americans aren't "intolerant, homophobic or simply against loving relationships." He says he thinks gay people should be allowed to make their choice, but he says it is wrong to make it a formal, legal arrangement. Here's why:
1) "liabilities within our cultural and legal system that boggle the imagination"
2) lawsuits that will "rock the moral foundation of this country."
3) schools required to teach about alternative lifestyles
4) forcing of something unnatural on the American public
5) he somehow insinuates that hetero Americans will have to pay some "bill"
I've forgotten to mention the aguably hateful rhetoric that he uses by way of insinuation and quotation marks, apparently trying to make himself sound like less of a bigot by making his remarks seem factual. First his use of the word "choice" is ridiculous - how many times do we have to make the argument that being gay is not a choice anymore than being straight is. Of course he brings up God (as if we are a theocracy) and being realists about the GLBT community having this ulterior motive or "agenda." He says he are "continually expanding and twisting laws to suit their own agendas and beliefs while expanding their client base of so called 'victims' and perceived discrimination." "so called victims?" "perceived discrimination?" Please... He then goes on to make the tie between gay marriage and teaching children in school. If you read his letter, it is a bit of a stretch. I bet the same arguement was made when black and white couples weren't allowed to marry.
Now we will more closely examine his rhetoric:
1) "liabilities within our cultural and legal system that boggle the imagination"
- what boggles the imagination sir is that you have no conception of what this is truely about. This is about equality, about the minority having the same rights as everyone else. It's about the USA being the land of the free, where people are afforded equal opportunity. The issue of equality is not a confusing or "boggling" one if you have looked at the U.S. Constitution.
2) lawsuits that will "rock the moral foundation of this country."
- do you mean like the ones during the civil rights movement? You're not talking about the moral foundation of the country, you're talking about your moral foundation. If your morals include oppressing a minority and fostering discrimination then perhaps you ought to rethink some things.
3) schools required to teach about alternative lifestyles
- this is not what gay marriage is about, and you're stretching things a bit here. You're also playing on the fear that people can be converted to being gay. Are you afraid of this personally? If not, then I don't understand why you think other people will take up being persecuted, discriminated against and basically having a minority status. Maybe it's because we're so fashionable. If you simply object to a student being taught about the realities of life, perhaps you should home school and teach whatever fantasy world you would like.
4) forcing of something unnatural on the American public
- yes, actually we're going to make everyone, even straight people, marry those of the same sex. You will be forced to live together and watch Queer Eye marathons whenever they are aired. Seriously, what is unnatural is your fear of gay people and your instimct to oppress our freedom and equality. It was natural to Hitler though.
5) he somehow insinuates that hetero Americans will have to pay some "bill"
- I'm not exactly sure what "bill" you're speaking of, but I'm already footing the bill for straight people who get tax breaks, medical insurance breaks, and about 1000 rights that come along with marriage. If you're speaking of a moral bill, well you'll just have to figure that one out on your own.
To end this awful tirade, I will say this. No person or group of people has the right to oppress others who have done no harm to anyone. That is a basic principle on which our country was founded. It guided us to where we are today, where African-Americans and women have the same rights and responsibilities of being American as anyone else. And if you dare to insult the gay community with your factoids about our so-called victims, please feel free to look up Matt Shepard's name or any one of thousands who have been affected by the lack of equality, or civility for that matter. And with that I truly apologize if I have offended you, writer of Slippery Slope, as you have offended me.
(source: Slippery slope of gay marriage)
