There are people I love who also happen to be gay. Times have changed. Unfortunately, not as much as I’d like, but, when I was growing up, being gay was a more difficult thing than it is today. I heard kids I grew up with called the “f” word. Hurling “gay” as if it was a dirty word was acceptable. It was something that could be devastating, especially for those who were not gay.
The Supreme Court is in play right now. I worry about the state of gay marriage. Honestly, it isn’t just gay marriage. I’m worried about the LGBTQ community as a whole.
I’m divorced. I can remarry. I can get divorced and remarry again. It would be completely legal. No Supreme Court justice will change that. But my friends who are gay may not have the same legal options that I have, to make poor relationship choices.
The transgender community, yeah, I’ve heard a lot about them. One of my kids had a trans friend. I worked with trans kids. You want to see heartbreak? Go talk to a trans kid who has been cast out of their family because of how they identify. You don’t have to understand transgender. You don’t have to like it. But, I promise you, they don’t face an easy road. And it isn’t just about which bathroom to use.
For those who claim religious reasons, well, I’m going to ask, first, as an American, what about the separation of Church and State. Why does your religious belief have more weight than what a person feels in their heart? Then I’m going to ask about your God. What God would have you cast out any person’s heart?
Last I checked, people in the LGBTQ community are paying the same taxes that I pay, maybe more. Unalienable rights, aren’t they for all of us, not just those who fit in some box that some consider normal?
I have so much to say about this topic, but most important is that I’m scared AF about a new Supreme Court Justice who may push the LGBTQ community back into a closet, or, God forbid, make some things illegal. Or, even worse, allow conversion camps. I don’t think anyone who thinks conversion camps are acceptable truly understands the message Christ or whatever God they claim to worship.
I have sinned. Jesus, I have sinned quite a bit. I don’t think my sins are any more holy than anyone in the LGBTQ community.
We need to figure out how to separate some of the BS. We don’t have to agree on everything, but the LGBTQ community pays taxes, just like I do. They have rights, or should. And God, the God I believe in, loves them, just like he loves me.
Let’s not let their rights get taken away. We can’t push people back into the closet or allow them to be made “illegal.”
If you love America and the freedoms that America provides, those freedoms should be for all, not just those who fit in a perfect box, because none of us fits in that box! And if you want to use religion, I’d hope you’d know that your God, no matter who He is, loves us all.
There are people I love who happen to be gay. We live in a divisive time. I want the people I love who happen to be gay, to be afforded the same rights as me. I want them to be part of the whole equality for all thing. I mean, all should mean all, right?
Kristen Ferrari 