So, something that has really been on my mind lately has been bigots and verbal abusers…sometimes they can be synonymous, but that is not always the case. For those who don’t know, a bigot is:
A person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs. (Wikipedia)
Now, I’m not saying everyone who doesn’t agree with homosexuality is a bigot. Some people do not believe homosexuality is moral, or acceptable, but if they do not constantly argue against the rights of homosexuals, they are not a bigot. You can disagree with homosexuality all you want, but is it really your place to keep rights from them? I don’t think so.
Marriage Equality is bound to pop up on this blog at some point, seeing as someday, I will want to get married. Today is not that day, but I will give a slight glimpse into my viewpoint:
Marriage is a government instituted union. Many people believe that marriage is a biblical idea, but that is actually false. Matrimony is a much better word for the biblical idea. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s better. Marriage is simply a union between two people (currently a man and a woman in the United States), which allows them to share benefits, support children together, and basically share everything. Civil Unions are the creation of a second union made with the intent of allowing LGBT people to live their lives together. The problem with this is that marriage is the only thing recognized (currently) by the federal government for full sharing equality. It doesn’t make much sense to me. If you want to call it civil union but give them full rights the same as marriage, I couldn’t care less. However, the problem I have with it is that it currently discriminates against LGBT couples. Fix that, please, I beg of you, otherwise, I will call you a bigot, just saying.
Now, onto verbal abuse.
Although some people don’t find anything wrong with name calling, I have a serious problem with it. I don’t want be called a Fag. In fact, I wish the word was never used in such a derogatory sense. Yesterday, someone said something about a purse being used for something. I was about to say something, but she corrected herself and said girls, and corrected herself again and said “feminine people.” Now, I have no problem with her saying that. I doubt most people would, but then the guitar player turned around and said, “Does that mean it applies to the fags?” He said it with a grin on his face, and a very condescending tone in his voice. This is what really bothers me. Fag is not the only word though. I have a problem with the following words when used in a derogatory sense:
Fag
Dyke
Queer
Homo
I am sure there are more words I would disagree with, but these are the ones that come to mind. When you say things like this, do you realize what you’re doing? The guitar player does not know I am gay, nor does he know a girl standing nearby is bisexual. It isn’t obvious, because I am not “feminine” and she is not “butch.” As far as people know, we are both straight as can be, but that doesn’t justify joking about things like that. I took offense to that, and I can’t look at him the same way anymore. He has lost my respect, and I hope he learns that words like that are hateful and they hurt people.
What's Important to Me 