Don't Get Me Started with Linda Sharp

Revisiting (from 3/26/2013): Equality: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (Better Late Than Never)

I wrote these words 5 years ago.  A full two years before I would know that what I believed was just passionate advocacy, would soon be the very breath I would take for the rest of my life.  Two years before my own child would find the strength, the courage to speak his truth to me.  I take heart in reading my own words and seeing that this is who I have ALWAYS been.  But I still fear for my son and every human being who falls outside the slim spot on the spectrum where the bigoted, hatefilled heteros reside.  

WE MUST DO BETTER FOR THEM.  WE SIMPLY MUST.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Equality.  A quaint notion we profess to have used as one of the rocks upon which this nation was built.

It is there in our Declaration of Independence, proclaiming to the world, the "truth" that is "self evident," "that all men are created equal."

What a load of horseshit.

This empty rhetoric has been stinking up the land since the ink was drawn onto the parchment. 

Written in a time when we literally owned human beings, beating them, demeaning them, casting them aside when they had served their purpose or were so broken they could no longer serve our purposes. 

Written by a cadre of privileged men who cared not one whit that their version of equality extended only to those like them.  Not women, not blacks - just the good old boys club.

As this country has struggled to take steps forward, burdened always by those intent on dragging us back, people have died in their efforts to make this country live up to her words:  "that all men are created equal."

The altar of equality is drenched in the blood of those who bravely took a stand and were cut down by cowards.

Have we made progress?  Of course.  Slavery was abolished.  Yet there are still those wetbrained bigots who espouse their love for the "good old days" when "niggers knew their place."  Women can vote.  But the passel of ignorant dullards who still believe a woman's "place is barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen" is alive and unwell.

And then there are our brothers and sisters who are fully formed human beings, yet because they fall under the LGBT label, they are not treated as such.

Castigated by society, condemned by religion, brutally assaulted by heathens, and marginalized by law - LGBT human beings struggle daily to simply make others understand that they, too, fall under that line in our Declaration.  They, too, were created equal.

Human beings.

I stress that because therein lies the disconnect.  Bigotry, isolation, condemnation, and fear all rely on the ability and willingness to dehumanize another.  Or the other.

Just because you don't understand someone else's attractions, gender identity, religion, does not make them less than you.  In fact, I would posit that your unwillingness to understand another makes YOU less than them.

And hiding behind your religion doesn't give you a free pass in the bigotry stakes.  Being hollered at by a preacher on Sundays doesn't acquit you from the responsibility to think for yourself, to actually dissect what you are being told to believe, and to ultimately call bullshit on it.

I truly feel sorry for those who hide behind the robes of Jesus, and who deign to speak for God.  Because if there is a God - hell, if there are the 10,000+ currently believed in - I suspect the heavenly woodshed is not big enough for all the asses that will be dragged behind it by Them.

"Created in His image."  "God created all things."  "God doesn't make mistakes."

All platitudes used by those who claim to be holy, enlightened.

All platitudes that extend only to those just like them.  Beyond that?  Well, obviously what lies beyond are abominations and choices and Hell.

Wrong.

What lies beyond their selective interpretations are human beings.  Beautiful, normal, loving human beings.

Lesbian, gay, trans, bi, non binary, and on and on.  All feeling the same feelings as anyone else.  All worthy of laws to protect them.  All deserving of equal rights. 

Gay parents do not make an adopted child gay.  But straight parents pump out an awful lot of gay children.  Go figure.

Two women raising a family are capable of just as much love and stability as the most straight laced hetero couple.  And considering the divorce rate in this country, perhaps more.  We heteros seem to excel at one thing when it comes to the sanctity of marriage:  FAILURE.

No one has been able to explain to me how their marriage is threatened by allowing same sex marriage.  NO. ONE.  Not a friend, not a politician, not a pundit.

Because there is NO threat.

It is simply another tactic of fear to keep a base ginned up. 

Allowing same sex couples to wed and enjoy the same legal protections afforded hetero couples does not mean your children will grow up looking for a same sex partner.  It doesn't mean a squad of immaculately dressed and coiffed men will show up at Bubba's doublewide and drag him to the altar.  And it doesn't mean that your hetero union is somehow suddenly worth less.

If your child is gay, they just are.  If your daughter is attracted to women, she just is, and always was.  And Bubba?  I hate to tell you, but there are an awful lot of Bubbas who just so happen to be gay but are afraid of you, your hate, and your guns.  And if your marriage tanks?  Look in the mirror.  It's not Adam and Steve who ruined it.

Gay men, lesbian women, bisexuals, transsexuals - all human beings.  I don't have to hurt one to know they bleed red like me.  I don't have to be one to know they laugh, cry, love, and live like me. 

This is an important week in our history as the Supreme Court takes on Prop 8 and same sex marriage.

Personally, I don't see the debate.  Remove the religious dogma that has zero place near the governance of our citizens, apply the words of our Declaration, and *VOILA!* the answer is simple.

Equality is an idea who time has come.  Even if it is over 200 years late to the party.

Again I Ask, What Is Wrong With You?

Passion, determination, drive, eloquence - all on full display at the March For Our Lives today.

I watched as young person after young person took the stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people and bravely spoke their truth.  Shouted their grief, their pain, their anger, their rage.  As young as 9, but no older than 18.  These young people stood firm: they would accept help from sincere adults, but their voices would not be bought, and no one over 18 would speak from that stage today in DC.

This is their moment, their movement.  We adults had our chance.

They allowed supporting performances from names like Ariana Grande, Lin Manuel Miranda, Ben Platt, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, Common, Vic Mensa, Andra Day, and Demi Lovato.  But those performances did not include speeches.  No worries, their songs expressed the strength, sadness, strife, grit, and hope of the generation that took the podium.

Yet as heartened as I am by the turnouts around the country, I am equally sickened by the comments that poured forth during livestreams of the DC event. The cowards were out in full FARCE. Demeaning, bullying, flinging their conspiracy theories like chimps flinging their shit.  

And again I am compelled to ask, What the hell is wrong with you?

We get it - you simply cannot believe that young people can be this powerful, this intelligent, this motivated.  It shows in your poor grammar, inability to spell in a simple sentence, and use of terms like libtard, tropes like George Soros.

Well, believe it. I have given birth to three of these young people you openly disdain - all connected to the world, passionate about equality, knowledgeable about governance, and unafraid of the "adults" who have pushed us to this place. Three who have grown up and lived through bomb threats, drills, and actual gun violence in their high school. They, along with their peers, have had enough.

What is wrong with you that all you can offer in response to their pain is hostility?  What is so broken in you that you refuse to see what is so plainly broken in our government?  How fearful of everything are you that you cling to conspiracies that are so laughably feeble and easily disproved instead of standing up and supporting common sense changes?

You brayed like mindless donkeys for 8 years about "Obama cummin' fer yer guns" - how did that work out for you?  At no point was that even mentioned by President Obama.  But your current hero, Trump, has flat out stated he supports taking your guns if you are deemed unstable or a threat, THEN allowing you to go through legal channels. How do you square that in your tiny minds?  

You lamely attempt to equate guns with cars.  Give that shit up.  It is a false equivalency, period.  But I'll play.  If you truly think cars and guns are equal, then let's apply the same rules and regs to gun ownership as we do to automobile ownership.  Registration and yearly renewal, VIN (GIN?) numbers that can track every weapon through purchase to registration to resale to accident and damage.  Insurance mandatory to cover the owner and any subsequent accident or injury.  Surely if you believe guns and cars are equal, and that you are a RESPONSIBLE GOOD GUY WITH A GUN, then you should be championing these equal requirements.

Right?  RIGHT?

<insert cognitive dissonance and crickets>

But back to your disbelief that these children could embolden millions to take to the streets not just in DC, but in 844 sister marches around the globe.  Maybe you are not possessed of enough intellect or drive.  Maybe the offspring you have birthed cannot spell any better than you and have been thoroughly brainwashed by your frightened and limited worldview.  That's fine.  But just because you are too dim, ineffectual, and frightened does not mean everyone else is.

Especially these young people.

They call BULLSHIT, and will continue to call BULLSHIT until they drive out the cowards, the bigots, the gun nuts, the bought out politicians, the racists, and the proudly ignorant who have driven this country to the brink.

Until they have driven you back into the hidey holes from which Trump emboldened you to slither out.

The DC event was brought home by Emma Gonzalez, who spoke with fire and passion, and then suddenly stopped.  For six minutes and twenty seconds she stood silent, tears filling her eyes, ignoring the chants that started then slowly died out as people began to realize what she was doing:  honoring the 17 lives that were taken in Parkland in the space of 6 minutes and 20 seconds.  In a day of powerful words, her silence spoke the loudest.

Except to the Facebook and Twitter cowards who jeered at her tears, made fun of her silence, called her a bald lesbian.

Again I ask, what the fuck is wrong with you?

Rhetorical question - the answer is obvious:  so very much.

844 marches WORLDWIDE. Stay on the wrong side of history if you want, but rest assured, these young people, and the adults who fully support their efforts, have zero problem plowing you under and leaving you in the rearview.

The Time Is Now, The Day Is Here

This morning, as hearts and eyes turn to Washington, DC for the March For Our Lives, these words from Les Miz have been playing on a loop in my brain:

At the barricades of freedom
Shall I join my brothers there?
When our ranks begin to form
Do I stay and do I dare?
Will you take your place with me?
The time is now, the day is here
One day more
One day more to revolution

Born of grief, fueled by passion, and unrepentant in expressing their anger over living in fear each day, the youth of this nation have sounded the call, and we have responded.

Well, at least those of us who finally understand that waiting for our elected leaders to grow a conscience, a soul, to actually remember the citizens, not the lobbyists, is never going to bear fruit.  Or effect change.

Today, around the world, over 800 marches will be taking place, supporting what is predicted to be the largest march in US history.

Today we will watch as young people do what we adults have failed to do.  Scare the ever lovin' out of the politicians.  Demand change.  And refuse to be silenced.

Their bravery is humbling.  Their intelligence without question.  Their reasons are soaked in the blood of their lost classmates, drenched in the tears of friends and families who have lost loved ones in nightclubs, theaters, concerts, and an ever growing roster of schools.  Their movement is driven by the certain knowledge that no one is safe in a country with more guns than citizens.  They have lived it.  Survived it.  But they know it will happen again and again and again.

And they are brave enough to say NO MORE.

What happened in Parkland was not unique in that we have watched it happen regularly.  Breaking News.  Broken bodies.  Blood stained hallways.  And then it fades from the headlines, the klieg lights move on, leaving the survivors in the shadows of grief, the darkness of indifference, the never ending nightmare of fear.

But this time it did not.  This time, a tipping point was reached.  Not by the parents who have buried their children.  Not by the politicians who could stand up to the NRA and 2nd amendment bastardizers.  No, this time, in the complete personification of the words "And a child shall lead them..." the students rose up.

I have been equal parts shamed and proud as I have watched them enter the national spotlight, grab the microphone, and refuse to be silenced.  They clap back at ignorant, bought out politicians and talking heads who try, lamely, to take them on via Twitter or FOX.  They respond with the sarcasm and cutting wit of a generation born of pop culture, steeped in the immediacy of technology, and fresh from high school government classes.  They did not ask for this, any of it.  They did not ask to become household names, to trend on Twitter, but they know how this game is played, and they are outplaying the adults at every turn.

They do not coddle the likes of Marco Rubio.  They call him out, using facts and figures to refute his lies.  They are not cowed by Dana Loesch, a failed actress who found her payday in venality, lies, and bloodshed.  They laugh at the likes of Tomi Lehren, Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones.  They call out the bullshit (sorry, Emma, BS) of conspiracy theorists, and those who cry "False flag!" "crisis actors!"

And they have open disdain for the administration led by a proudly ignorant, virulently bigoted, bought out whore named Donald Trump.

That same whore who fled DC to hide at Mar-a-lago this weekend.  The same whore who used the cover of darkness last night to again place a target on transgender people in this country.  The same whore who is flailing wildly and trying to chum the news waters with distraction from the March For Our Lives, from the growing scandals involving him, the tightening net around him, and the 60 Minutes interview tomorrow night.

And make no mistake, these students are marching together with all those who are targeted and marginalized in this country.  The students of this nation do not fear transgender people, they KNOW them.  They do not care if someone is gay, they are friends with them.  They do not use skin color as the determination of someone's worth, they see the heart, the behavior.  They embrace the rainbow, they reject bigotry, racism, misogyny, phobias of all ilk.

Which is why they are feared.  Which is why the NRA is pointing every verbal gun their way, as the membership rolls hemorrhage and bleed out.  Which is why NRA approved politicians are trying to shout them down, demean their age, their intelligence.  Which is why FOX continues to question their motives, invoke the tired George-Soros-paying-them trope.

And again, why Donald Trump, Cadet Bone Spurs, a coward unmatched has fled the city instead of standing beside them on the dais.  They do not have the support or protection of the President.  Their lives mean nothing to him.  He has $33 million in NRA dollars directing his gaze.

Last night, he proclaimed again that my child, due to gender dysphoria is unfit to serve his country.  Implying my child is crazy and a danger to anyone with whom he may serve.  

My child is not crazy.

Wait, no, I take that back.  He is crazy - crazy intelligent, crazy talented, crazy compassionate, crazy tuned in, crazy strong, crazy proud.  He is not crazy like a FOX, however.  You know, the kind of crazy that laps up lies, sticks their fingers in their ears when truth is leveled at them.  The kind of crazy that goes to church yet acts in direct opposition to everything Jesus was about.

No, he is not that kind of crazy.

Today, even though we live far from a big city with a march, we shall stand united as we watch the coverage of the Marches taking place.  We will cry as impassioned youth speak their truth, their grief, their pain.  We will cheer as they call out the cowards who refuse to crawl out of NRA pockets and protect them.  And we will sing with LMM and Ben Platt as they remind the assembled that yes, YOU WILL BE FOUND, and that TOMORROW THERE WILL MORE OF US.

The time is now, the day is here.  The revolution has begun.  Let us march together.  For their lives.  For OUR lives.