Check out these two videos of Utah State Senator Chris Buttars:
Now, as ignorant and as hateful as are such statements as Buttars made, it doesn't take a genius to figure out why so many people take these kinds of sentiments seriously, and why Gay people are still viewed as second class citizens and why DADT is still on the books, as is DOMA, neither of which, particularly the latter, is likely to go away any time soon. And, to make matters exponentially worse, there are many "victims" of this hate who are seeming to do their best to give credibility to even the most unhinged hatred spewing from the mouths of virulent homophobes.
Now check out these videos, if you have the stomach for them, or at least read this summary of this obscenity that merely serves to show up Gay people as maladjusted freaks who are "the other," "the deviant," "the outsider" that seems to lend credence to the hateful spewing of the homophobic haters of the world.
Unless there is strong grass roots and organizational revulsion expressed at these traitors and saboteurs of the cause of equal rights; unless self-loathing closet cases, or those in denial, or those who identify being Gay with being sexually obsessed hedonists and seek to paint all Gay people with that brush are confronted as not in any way representing the Gay communities, we can expect Gay people to remain consigned to second class citizenship and continue to be grateful (or not) for the crumbs of incrementalism tossed them by "liberal" politicians who would rather play it safe to enhance their careers than do the right thing and demand equal rights for all of America's citizens!
Such outrage won't be expressed by politicians such as President Obama (Who has made is crystal clear that he is not in favor of same-sex marriage; won't unilaterally rescind DADT, and is asking for further "discussion" of the issue.) or anyone else, but will have to come from within the Gay communities themselves for that revulsion and outrage to have any impact. In that way, and only in that way, will the Chris Buttars of the world never again feel free to spew such hate!
Buttars may have lost his seat on the Senate judicial committee he chaired, for calling Gay people as being equivalent to radical Muslims and the greatest threat that America faces. However, in my opinion, it would be a great mistake to think that he is alone in having those sentiments!
We are to make no mistake: Although he was somewhat punished for these egregious remarks, there are a whole host of people out there, most all of whom would and do vote against basic civil rights for Gay people, such as the right to marriage or even the right to federal civil rights protections, who feel exactly as he does.
And the tragic truth is that all too many Gay people are seemingly not sufficiently outraged to demand that civil rights organizations be far more aggressive in creating a climate where such hate speech would be totally unacceptable; initiating class action suits for defamation of character and deprivation of Constitutionally mandated rights of equality under the law; meaningfully organize through grassroots activism to demand full and equal civil rights as citizens of the United States.
And we can't afford to have Gay people painted with the brush of being "deviant freaks" by those in the media and even by some of those from within the bosom of the Gay communities themselves, if we really want equal rights to become a reality in the foreseeable future.
I urge everyone who is genuinely concerned about equal rights for LGBT people to express their revulsion both against the "religious," political, and media homophobic haters of America, and also against the traitors and saboteurs from within the Gay communities who are unwittingly or wittingly playing the role of agent provocateurs, providing what seems to be credible ammunition to the visible and often well-known homophobic haters of the world so that they can point to the traitors and the images they provide and then seemingly credibly castigate all Gay people as being a threat to "the family," "to children," "to our way of life," and thereby sound believable, even to potential Straight allies who are very much needed in this civil rights struggle!
No decent person, Gay or Straight, can idly sit by and allow to go unchallenged any encumbrance, whether emanating from without and/or from within the Gay communities, to the cause of equal rights!
For to do so is, by default, to align oneself with the lying purveyors of hate and their gullible followers who have hitherto prevented full and equal rights for Gay people from becoming a reality!
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