Larry Craig. I've been thinking a lot about his problems today, and I've found that I actually feel sorry for him, and for all of the other right-wing conservative white men who have recently been caught in sex scandals.It surprises me to feel sorry for them. They are, after all, the same people who spew hatred toward me and all other gay men and lesbians. They are the ones who deny us our most basic civil rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
But as these scandals come to a head (if you'll excuse the expression) I see these men (for they all seem to be white men) for what they truly are: normal human beings with normal sexual feelings who hate themselves. They hate what they feel so much that they sneak around in bathrooms and with prostitutes and congressional pages, rather than accept who they are. I don't know who's gay, bisexual, or just “curious.” And honestly, I don't care.
What I do care about is that these are all men of power, and they have all turned their self-loathing outward toward the rest of us. Larry Craig has a long history of questionable behavior, summarized by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
During all his years in Congress, there have been questions about Craig's personal life. At the same time, he was voting for the federal amendment banning gay marriage (the first time an amendment has ever been introduced to deny citizens rights), opposing allowing gays or lesbians in the military, as well as voting against extending civil rights protections to homosexuals in the workplace.
The extremists in the conservative Christian faction have created an atmosphere of hatred toward gays and lesbians that is so strong its own members are forced to troll bathrooms looking for sex rather than accept their normal human sexuality. Add to that the fact that these men are also covering up their behavior by focusing their fervor and hate toward the gay community.
As a gay person, that's not just pathetic. It's downright scary.
3 comments:
extremely well put, pooky
I agree with you, and I feel that religion is one of the biggest causes of this self-loathing. Look at all the scandals with Boy Scouts and Catholic Priests.
I know when I was a Christian I thought everything bad that happened to me was a direct result of impure sexual feelings. It took me a looooong time to recover from it, and I think I still am struggling a bit with my self-esteem, but I'm getting better.
That's interesting that you said "when I was a Christian." How do you identify yourself these days?
I consider myself a Christian, although in a more spiritual sense than in an organized church sense.
I consider myself to be spiritual, but I don't believe that Jesus was the son of God anymore so I don't call myself a Christian. I believe in God and I believe He's all the things Christianity taught me he was: merciful, powerful, vengeful, in control...
Basically I am just a "fearful God believer". I believe more in karma than other things, which has much more to do with others than with an invisible creator. I think what you give will come back to you tenfold, and what you take will also bite you back ten-fold.
God gives us opportunities every day to make someone else's life a little better. If we take those opportunities, we're blessed.
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