Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Here comes gay marriage...and divorce...

I'm not a great believer in marriage -- my parents had 9 between them -- but I do believe in people being treated equally under the law. Now the Supremes have said that's the law of the land. Which is good. It destroys the premise of one of my stories, but I don't care.

What's about to follow is the fun part -- getting the states opposing letting gay men and women marry to follow the law. A lot of them won't until forced to. Many are the same states that refused to desegregate their schools until federal marshals made them. and they still fought it tooth and nail into the 70s. Now the redneck scum will have a real focus for their hate...and don't you think they won't spout it.

To me, homophobia is not built on being deep in the closet or having true religious beliefs. Racists have shown clearly that racism is based mostly on a need to feel superior to another group of people, be they black, brown or Asian. Same for religious intolerance; it's not built on anything but the need to control others and force them to live by your standards, be you Christian, Muslim or Jew. Homophobia is simply about blaming someone else for your screw-ups.

Too many people in this world desperately need to have someone they can despise and accuse of being the reason for everything that's gone wrong. And I'm not exaggerating. Katrina was blamed on gays, as was 9/11. And Hurricane Sandy. And the Northridge Earthquake of 1994. And the drought. And the fires and the floods. And the economic collapse. Now ministers are screaming that gays wanting to get married means God will smite us all, so hate them queers for the demise of your economic opportunities and the changes you don't like in our "once-perfect nation." Blame them, not yourselves for letting those scaremongers fill your heart with fear and hate and hide how they're helping the rich get richer off your backs. Far easier to say it's all the faggots' faults.

It's childish and absurd, but it's also controlling too damn many people to let slide.

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