Ladies and Gentlemen: Family Research Council president Tony Perkins has officially gone on record with his bid for Douchebag of the Decade (official title).
It gets better
Ladies and Gentlemen: Family Research Council president Tony Perkins has officially gone on record with his bid for Douchebag of the Decade (official title). In his recent article in response to the wave of suicides by gay teens in September, he accuses media organizations that support gay rights of exploiting those suicides “to push their agenda of demanding not only tolerance of homosexual individuals but active affirmation of homosexual conduct and their efforts to redefine the family.”
Even if you aren’t exactly on the front lines at Pride Week waving the rainbow flag, these statements are obviously insane. If you want a chilling demonstration, replace the words “homosexual” or “gay” with “black” or “Jew” and read it again. It is exactly this type of institutionalized “blame the victim” mentality that fosters the atmosphere that led to these children’s deaths—namely, the ingrained normalization of hate that makes the idea of a boy violently attacking another boy more acceptable to people than the idea of a boy kissing another boy.
Of course, the next slippery rung on this ladder of insanity is to attack anyone who dares to defend the victims. This is a tactic as old as Sun Tzu, and it is exactly what Tony Perkins and his ilk are doing. Perkins went on to assert that organizations such as GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) are responsible for the depression and isolation gay teens feel because they tell them they are “‘born gay’ and can never change.” Allow me to pose a question in response: When was the last time someone committed suicide because they felt that they had someone to turn to who understood and would listen to them?
Organizations such as GLSEN advocate the acceptance of the identity of homosexual students and want the school system to treat homophobia as they treat racism. They also believe that schools should never be involved in the endorsement of the idea that gays and lesbians can be converted to heterosexuality. This idea was long ago dismissed by the psychological community, and the fact that threads of it linger in the education system is a stark reminder of the insidious mindset that gays are second-class citizens who not entitled to the same rights as others. I look forward to the day when hearing dogma such as this will be as shocking to the average person as finding out suddenly that classes are still being segregated by race.
Groups like GLSEN, those involved in Oct. 20th’s Wear Purple Day campaign to end anti-gay bullying and fckh8.com all state a similar goal: Bring to an end the institutionally accepted convention of violence and hate that takes the lives of innocent children. If that is a radical homosexual agenda, then maybe those homosexuals are pretty rad.
As long as the idea that some people deserve to be treated worse than others thrives in any part of our society, then we are failing to live up to the ideals outlined during the founding of this country. When the people charged with the safety of children fail to protect them from being harassed to the point that they end their lives, it is we as a nation who are failing them. I would like to remind Mr. Perkins, as well as others with similar attitudes toward the treatment of gay people in our country, that when the Declaration of Independence says “all men are created equal,” it does not add the caveat that they are only equal if they aren’t into other dudes.
Links to support and information:
http://www.thetrevorproject.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcVyvg2Qlo (Dan Savage’s original It Gets Better Video)
http://www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject
http://www.facebook.com/pages/It-Gets-Better-Project/158071744210603
