Didja' know June was Gay Pride Month?

Careful, you might catch the Gay Cooties.....
(Special thanks to Mark at Slap Upside The Head for the pic)

Being that this is, or at least was until recently, basically a free country, people are entitled to their opinions and to their own personal belief systems. Often times those opinions will clash with the opinions of others. Most of the time my opinions and feelings on matters are shared by my fellow conservatives, but there’s one viewpoint that I have that often gets an askew glance and raised eyebrow from my contemporaries. I support my gay friends, and being that June is Gay Pride Month, I didn’t want to let the month go by without a mention.

As always, it pains me to put people in the Tool Box that I once championed. However, when you’re being a dick, I gotta call you out.

Samuel Wurzelbacher, the Ohio man hailed as "Joe the Plumber" by John McCain's presidential campaign last year and castigated and crucified by the liberal media for daring to question The Annointed One B-Hussein-Obama, said a month or two ago that he believes gays are "queer" and said he won't allow them near his children.

"People don't understand the dictionary -- it's called queer," Wurzelbacher told Christianity Today in a recently published interview. 'Queer' means strange and unusual. It's not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that. You know, God is pretty explicit in what we're supposed to do -- what man and woman are for."

He added, "I've had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children. But at the same time, they're people, and they're going to do their thing."

Those so-called friends probably think you’re a dick, too. And they probably aren’t your friends; they’re just people you know who haven’t yet kicked you in the balls out of politeness.

Look, man, people can’t help who and what and how they are. Some people are just gay. And I guess some people are just uptight religious types who use their chosen deity as a crutch and a shield to stay closed-minded. (Remember, I’m a conservative for the most part but I have an open mind—see http://www.mojosteve.blogspot.com/2009/05/defining-my-blogs-philosophy-for-my.html)

If indeed the Christian God is so horribly offended by homosexuals, and God created everything and everyone, then why does God create homosexuals, thusly creating something He hates? Why doesn’t God strike them down and smite them to the Earth as abominations? Sounds like bullshit to me. Keeping your kids away from gays as if they’ll catch the Gay Cooties or some such drivel is just that: drivel. Keeping your kids away from gays doesn’t keep them from becoming gay, either. By that same logic, do you keep your kids away from blacks so that they don’t become black or catch blackness, or away from white kids so they don’t become white or catch white cooties?



Keeping your kids away from something that’s different from what you personally don’t believe in just keeps them from understanding differences and only serves to perpetuate the prejudice. You’d be better served by explaining things to a kid the best you can, so they can understand and respect that people are different and let them make their own choices as they mature.

And if God really does have a problem with it, then that’s really between the gay couples and God, isn’t it? If there’s some evil vile sin been committed, then I guess the Big Reckoning will occur at Judgement Day, no? I do believe that somewhere in that Bible my fellow conservatives love to thump, there’s a quote about letting he who is without sin cast the first stone…and trust me, so many of you live in glass houses that ya’ll best not have a gravel driveway nearby. That, or you best have stock in a glass company.



And while I’m already up on my Big Gay Soap Box…

A couple more states recently began allowing gay marriages, and it’s about time. However, no one can say for certain how long the statutes will stay in effect since every time I turn around some state or other that had previously recognized same-sex marriages overturns the laws and makes it illegal again.

I already covered gay marriage once before. Go see: http://mojosteve.blogspot.com/2008/06/just-legalize-gay-weddings-already.html

Maine is one of the states that recently allowed same-sex marriage, so when my dear friend Wil finally finds the right guy, maybe I’ll get a wedding invite. But for another dear friend of mine, it’s too late now.

My friend Paul has had a really hard time dealing with the death of the man who would legally have been his husband had they been allowed to marry in New York state. His partner, a prominent doctor specializing in reconstructive plastic surgery, tragically passed away this past October at 47 from sarcoidosis that he picked up breathing in all sorts of toxins helping people out of the rubble on 9/11. Helping the same straight people who wouldn’t grant him the same rights to marriage that they themselves enjoyed.

Because of the 9/11 connection to his disease, he was unable to get life insurance. While he was a doctor and they lived a somewhat privileged lifestyle, things have been extremely rough without any life insurance benefits or legal rights.

In Paul’s own words:

“Because we weren't "married", we were not allowed over 1,400 rights afforded
"married couples". After my husband died, I couldn't even go to the morgue to
identify his body. I had to wait till his family arrived from Montreal to go with
them to do this. Can you fathom this scenario? I have NO rights what so ever
regarding his estate and things that belong to me can be taken away by creditors.

The family has not yet named me the administrator of the estate, which has left me in a terrible situation. Everyone is calling me about bills but I have no authority to do anything, and he was MY HUSBAND of 14.5 years.

I could go on and on but I don't have the time right now as I'm closing down our
new, magnificent office that we just built together in NYC.

I'm responsible for credit cards that were his, but he named me as a secondary cardholder, BUT they can't tell me details of the accounts as I'm not his "spouse". “

It’s bad enough that my friend lost the love of his life, but the nightmare won’t end for him because he has all the trauma and drama, but none of the rights that help attain closure or at least ease the situation.

I’m not saying that you have to conform to my opinions on these matters. You’re all entitled to your opinions and beliefs. Last month the media and the world at large was bashing Miss California for not kissing Perez Hilton’s ass and saying she was okay with same-sex marriages. She believes that marriage is strictly a male/female thing. That’s her opinion, and last I knew it was still a free country. But I hope she would be open to civil unions at the very least so that there can be fair access to health insurance, life insurance, and survivor benefits.

Life is too short to deny people the same freedoms that you enjoy as a heterosexual, based solely on the fact that they aren’t. Be a little more open-minded about things.


In memory of Dr. Gervais Frechette, MD 1961-2008