February 10, 2009.
I believe in the years to come, people will look back at this time as having ended what has for centuries been social issues of sexism and racism. And it will be President Obama who is the final answer.
The more ignorant black preachers quote the Bible incorrectly to fight same sex marriage, the more Obama proves them wrong. For ignorant white preachers have quoted that same Bible to not only approve of slavery but, until the 1960s, to oppose interracial marriage. The more a few blacks complain about gays using “their” civil rights movement, the more clear it is that all civil rights movements are the same and work together.
I thought of this as I reread a book, Nebraska, by George Whitmore (wonder where he is today; the novel was published in 1987 about events in 1956) and wondered if any young person reading it today would be able to “feel” the story.
It is of a boy who feels guilty for having lied to another boy that his uncle had said he had sex with men. This was later used to legally put the uncle in a mental institution after he was arrested for public sex and it was discovered that he had been kicked out of the navy, dishonorably, and loved another man.
I hope that in a few years, no one will have to deal with such a situation, and even today there are agencies to help someone in such a situation. I was kicked out of the army, so perhaps I could understand and feel the story even more than most people.
If few homosexuals can even “feel” such a situation, since they will never have such a terrible experience, either being rejected by or being kicked out by the military it is easy to understand why most Americans can not feel the problems homosexuals or people of other races, or religions, have, being in a minority.
This should have been discussed at The Task Force’s Creating Change conference in Denver and the meeting of the “leaders” of the community/movement who met in Los Angeles to try to deal with the loss of Proposition 8. How do we let the average heterosexual person understand/feel the real issue when too many homosexuals don’t even know the real issues?
How “gay” for some young left-wing homosexual to say, “Well, we shouldn’t be in the military anyway,” as if his or her choice should be forced on everyone, making them just like the right-wing bigots.
It may seem a reach, but this is exactly what an interracial couple dealt with when they fell in love. Interracial dating and marriage was opposed by the vast majority of white citizens and black citizens, and there are probably still a few people who oppose it. If they don’t want to marry someone of a different race, then they shouldn’t. But they have no right to make that choice for others. Yet they did, by law. And it was based on religion and the Bible was used to preach that such marriages were wrong.
One of the many “logical” arguments against interracial marriage was how it would hurt the children who would be of mixed race and suffer rejection from all sides.
Obama is the answer to that stupid argument. And if interracial marriage is now accepted, so should same-sex marriage be accepted. And the children of same sex marriage are doing fine, just as Obama and many children from interracial marriages have been and are.
But go back and read the terrible accusations, claims, sermons against interracial marriage even after the U.S. Supreme Court — making law as right-wingers always charge when they don’t like a decision — ended laws against interracial marriage. The same lies are used against same sex marriage today, often by interracial Black preachers.
Then let us figure out how we got from such evil beliefs to a President Obama. And see if that journey can lead to acceptance of same sex marriage.
