Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Cry baby Santorum says he's being bullied????

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum is saying that his campaign has been victimized by bullying after "Saturday Night Live" ran a parody of a GOP Presidential debate. His quote, "We've been hammered by the left for my standing up for the the traditional family and I will continue to do so. The left, unfortunately, participates in bullying more than the right does. They say that they're tolerant, and they're anything but tolerant of people who disagree with them and support traditional values."


You can watch the skit here.

What has Rick Santorum said about the gay community?? Well, I'm so glad you asked... In 2003 he compared homosexuality to incest, bigamy, adultery, and polygamy. In a recent interview with Chris Wallace he said gays couldn't compare the equality movement with the civil rights movement because "blacks can't help the color of their skin," thus implying gays could choose their sexual orientation. He's also said the repeal of DADT was nothing more than "social experimentation."

Here's a lovely video of Santorum debating a school girl about children who grow up with same sex parents;

I'm sure he feels "bullied" by this student; and in my opinion he should!! This is about as good of a verbal "ass whooping" as I've ever seen a student give a U.S. Senator.

When you have some time you should search youtube for all the other things he's said, and continues to say, about gay's and marriage equality. Upon a little search history it becomes quite clear who the actual bully is!

Santorum's comments about gay's are mean spirited, hurtful, and flat out untrue. In fact if he were an organization Southern Poverty Law Center would list him as a hate group. Those kinds of comments are what get most organizations officially listed as a hate group.

Bottom line, save your sniveling for someone who actually gives a crap! I would like to know how many children or adults are staying in the closet or contemplating suicide because of the comments you've made about gay people??

You sir, are a bully and a jackass!!!

Jeran

Friday, October 14, 2011

Am I going to lose everything?

Tuesday was National Coming Out Day. Wyoming Equality held a dessert reception at a local church and invited people to come and share their coming out stories. I was moved and humbled at the life experiences told by these remarkable folks.

The evening was very relaxed and informal. We all sat around a big table while enjoying decadent desserts, sipping on rainbow punch, stepping out of our comfort zones, and talking about the day our lives changed forever.

I want you to imagine how scary it would be to tell the people that you love your gay, especially when you grew up listening to anti gay rants from family members every time something gay was on TV or the local gay couple was seen around town.

What are my mom and dad going to think? What will my brothers and sisters say? Will I lose my job? What about my friends? Are my children still going to want a relationship with me and how will this affect them? What are my ultra religious grandparents going to think?

These are questions that I agonized over for months and months before I came out. I had nightmares about every scenario and was preparing to lose everything. I'm a very strong willed independent person, however I have a huge loving family, and I made myself physically sick thinking about them never speaking to me again.

Luckily, for me, none of that happened. For the most part my family was extremely supportive and excited for me to start living my life and being true to myself. Many at the reception were not that fortunate.

I heard stories of parents not speaking to their kids for months on end, brothers who'd go out of their way to avoid running into a gay sibling, living a total closeted life because if you were outed you would lose your job immediately; and so many more stories were shared over the course of the evening that were both heartbreaking and inspirational.

The good news..... Many of these relationships have healed. Attitudes have changed and softened. Family members have realized that they want and need relationships with their loved ones, regardless of their sexual orientation. Employers have taken steps to ensure LGTB people are protected at work. Schools are implementing anti bullying campaigns. As the saying goes, "It is getting better!!!"

Overall, the evening was dominated with laughter and smiles. One couple in attendance is actually getting married this weekend in Iowa. I'm so happy for them!! I was also thrilled to have a handful of straight allies in attendance throwing their support behind this event.

I hope this will inspire you to reach out to your LGTB friends, family, co-workers, colleagues, and let them know that you love and support them.

Jeran