On Monday, April 12, the Missoula City Council will discuss the proposed anti-discrimination bill and many people on both sides of the issue will show to state their views.
I don't know what it is like to be gay, but I know what it is like to be bullied. It began when I started school, because I was one of the smallest kids in the school, and I wore thick glasses, a rarity in those days among grade-schoolers. "Hey, 4-eyes!" was the signal I was about to get my ass kicked. In middle school, came "Chuck you Farley," another signal I was about to get my ass kicked. Calling me Chuck still puts me in fight or flight mode.
For years I ran from bullies, until I learned that didn't work. Pop said he always just whipped the shit out of bullies, but he had a twin brother to back him up. However, he still insisted I stand my ground and fight back. My track skills atrophied, and I took more beatings. I began to berserk a bit and cause more damage to my attackers than it was worth and then during the four years of high school, I grew 10 inches and gained 48 pounds.
The first time I was called a queer in high school, it was being used synonymously with nerd, and I didn't know the already accepted urban meaning. Strange and odd I had in aces, and that was the dictionary definition at the time. I have been called queer many times since then, because I like to converse with friends, and quite frankly...well, some of them are queer.
It wasn't always so. I had a friend come out in college, and for some time I shunned him, as did many others. I'm not sure exactly where the tipping point occurred, but I recognized his being my friend as more important than his sexual orientation. He never represented any threat to me. That was in Eugene. Later, whenever I passed through San Francisco, he and his partner always had a place for me to stay. We hit a place called the Cabaret one night and had some serious fun.
Bullies have been with us, since human history began, and they have been mirrored in nature forever by the larger stealing food from the smaller. They try to appear powerful by terrorizing those smaller and weaker than themselves. Since they fear any they perceive as different than themselves, they are always looking for excuses to attack others. Carefully created propaganda can have bullies bellowing in herds. Look around this country, and you will see the process in action. Our last national administration was made up mostly of bullies, and the media is still full of them.
Back to today's issue of equal rights for all people no matter their sexual orientation. A bunch of Bible thumpers are yelling abomination, and shouting they have a right to discriminate and god is on their side, yadda, yadda, blah, blah. The dictionary meaning for discriminate is "to recognize a distinction." We're not talking about discrimination here; we're talking about prejudice: "preconceived opinion which is not based on reason or experience." In short--ignorance.
Personally, I don't care what consenting adults do with each other, as long as they don't force others to participate. I have big problems with the snake handlers in the south and the traumas they inflict upon their children. Those assholes shouldn't be allowed to have children. Meanwhile, homosexuals have no more tendency to prey on others than heterosexuals, but the Bible thumpers don't want them adopting or teaching children. Speaking of Bible thumpers, dare we bring up how the world's largest religious bureaucracy is lumbering around hiding and defending the sexual predations their minions have practiced for centuries?!
Sinead O'Connor was so right about the pope on SNL, and the catholics came out of the woodwork to harass her everywhere she went.
That pious dress-wearing man condemns other men who wear dresses. That strikes me as hypocrisy. In fact, just thinking about that whole mess angers me too much, and I must change the subject.
The Dalai Lama is coming. This guy is the real deal. He has a firm spiritual base, is still learning, is willing to admit his mistakes, looks for dialog and is a true agent of peace. May all the powers that be bless him and this visitation.
I took time out to read the comics. Some of the oldies in constant circulation start to finish include Bloom County, Boondocks and Calvin and Hobbes. My selection varies as some come and go, and others change, but I'm serious about finding laughs every day (seems almost an oxymoron). I linked the home site for the biggest batch of titles I know to Facebook. I'm going to restore the comics links on this blog, too, but not right now.
All Christians blindly following the neo-con agenda need to read the sermon on the mount and other teachings by the man they call Lord, before the conservatives chop everything out of the Bible they consider too liberal. Look at what Jesus said not what every jump-on-the-bandwagon scam artist through the centuries said. Don't look to current religious leaders for your answers, because they are full of shit, and they've sold out to the dark side. Those frauds haven't changed since Jesus' time when he compared them to tombs whitewashed outside but full of rotten meat and dead men's bones.
Yes, I'm talking about the pope again, and the Christian Coalition, Pat Robertson, Hagee, Dobson, and all those self-righteous fakers. They appear to be sheep only to lead the sheep, and are wolves. That's bad imagery, because I like wolves.
Back to the dunderheads who will be at the meeting shouting against equal rights for everyone. I'm not sure I have time to waste on such ignorance, but I should be there for my friends on the other side...
Life presents another dilemma.
I didn't even turn my computer on all day yesterday. I'm thinking of making that a regular ritual. Now, I've blown my pipes clean with a rant and can get on with other things today. I sat down to rant about the war, Obama, Democrats, Republicans, etc., but this is the 21st century, and it is way past time to allow all humans equal rights, with, of course, the exceptions for those wishing to harm others.
Equal Rights 4 Everyone
