Both sides of the issue? What the hell does that mean? I said to myself as my blood pressure began to rise. Present both sides of the issue? What other side? Immediately, my mind went off on a rant.
I am so fed up with well-meaning people who always have to give a hate-monger his two cents every time they themselves say something nice about gay folks. I am so fed up that every time the the news reports something positive about gay people, they feel the need to give the people who hate gay people equal time to spew their hatred. I am so fed up with the double standard of presenting "both sides of the issue." After all, every time something is said in favor of African-Americans you don't see folks interviewing a Ku Klux Klan member to offer "both sides of the issue." During remembrances of the Holocaust, you don't see new organizations rushing to interview Nazis or skinheads just to present "both sides of the issue."
Yet everytime gays are in the news, you see the people who hate gays get their time on the air too. At what point did some minorities earn the rights to have their views heard without bigots getting equal time? How soon 'till gays get that same right?
But most of all, I am fed up with the myth that another "side" of the issue ever exists!
Gays can legally be fired from their jobs in Ohio. That's a fact. There is no other "side" to the issue.
Gays can legally be kicked out of their apartments in most of Ohio. That's a fact. There is no other "side" to the issue.
Gays, lesbians and bisexuals get killed, beaten, raped and verbally accosted every day in this country. That's a fact. There is no other "side" to the issue.
Gay and lesbian kids commit suicide at nearly three times that their straight counterparts do. That's a fact. There is no other "side" to the issue.
Just like straight people, gays, lesbians and bisexuals fall in love, have relationships and form families. That's a fact. There is no other "side" to the issue.
Some gay, lesbian and bisexual people raise children. That's a fact. There is no other "side" to the issue.
Some gay, lesbian and bisexual people pray to God and attend churches, synagogues and mosques. That's a fact. There is no other "side" to the issue.
Some people like to debate or push their religious beliefs onto others. That's fine. Others, because of personal opinions, don't like gay people. And that's fine too. But their lives are a fact. There is no other "side" to the issue.
I shared some of this ranting to her and she stated that she misstated her intentions in the previous conversation I had had with her.
Education, after all, is what changes ignorant beliefs and stereotypes into knowledge and friendships. And that's a fact.
