A few days ago a local NBC reporter asked the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, what he thought of gay veterans and their partners who were protesting his signature of a ban on gay marriage. Perry replied: “Texans made a decision about marriage and if there's a state that has more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that's a better place for them to live.”
In other words, the governor has asked gay Texans to consider moving to another state--or country, for that matter, like Denmark, where people often change sexes and marry former men.
The fact that these protesters were veterans meant nothing to Perry, because clearly nothing in this country is more important than sexual orientation. Serving in the military? Defending the country? Living a law-abiding, tax-paying, church-going life? Nope. Being straight.
(By the way, Perry chose to ceremonially sign the ban at Christian Church. This is a little like George Bush choosing to sign an energy bill at Exxon/Mobil headquarters, or Gov. Schwarzenegger signing a anti-sexual harassment bill at Rob Lowe’s house.)
But the best part is Perry himself. Perry has recently become one of Texas’s most religious men. And he brought other religious men with him to the signing, men who said things like gay Americans cause 60 percent of syphilis cases, or that their live spans are only half as long as heterosexuals.
Yet, according to the last year’s Austin Chronicle, “Rumors concerning the governor's personal life have been flying furiously around the Capitol, the capital city, the state, and indeed most of the Western Hemisphere. ...At their core is the tale that the governor's marriage is in trouble, that his wife Anita has/will/may decide to divorce him, and that the issue is Rick's alleged infidelity, with one or another member of his administration of undetermined gender.”
Wow. That’s a shocker.
The best part is the last two words: “of undetermined gender.” Nothing has been proven yet, but reporters of undetermined gender are probing. They’ve narrowed it down to one of two.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Spokane, one of the most virulently anti-gay politicians in Washington, recently admitted to using the trappings of his office to entice a young adult man, but he denied allegations that he molested two young boys more than twenty years ago (His response: “I never engaged in anything with anyone underage.”)
Um, hello? Earth to America. Is anyone paying attention?
Can no one else see a pattern?
Please pay attention. This isn't difficult. No matter what your own personal opinion on homosexuality is, remember: Someone else’s homophobia does not make him or her a righteous person. There’s more to being good than publicly expressing your hatred of others. That’s the lesson so few people seem to understand. Now, if only gays weren’t so busy spending our time causing 60 percent of all syphilis cases (you have no idea how much work that takes), you’d think that we should try to make people understand this. After all, with such brief life spans, we've got no time to waste.