thomascwaters.com

Dear Greg,

Glad to have the opportunity to read your post. I just want to offer a few points for thought.

1) I really don’t think that the “LGBT segment is rapidly growing.” There have always been (and will always be) men and women who are LGBT. What is changing, is that these men and women are coming out and being more visible than ever before. We are refusing to be quiet and hide in the shadows, and pretend about our lives anymore. Some of us haven’t been quiet for a long time, and still others continue to lead double lives, passing as straight so as to not be fired from their job, etc. I think however it is a safe bet that visibility will increase. It isn’t like we are getting “new gays” at a faster rate, just that those who identify as gay and doing that, and speaking out more publicly.

On the other hand, it may be easier for youth to come out earlier today than ever before. Many people of my generation were not aware of their sexual orientation, or actively fought it for years before it felt safe to be gay. This had many bad side-effects, and that discussion probably warrants a separate post. Kids today may feel safer, and definitely have more positive gay and lesbian role models, and so may come out earlier and easier.

2) There is no such thing as “The Gay Lifestyle” as if it is what all GLBT people do. Just as there is no monolithic straight lifestyle. I’m sure your lifestyle and that of Paris Hilton or Britney Spears are not alike. Would you describe yourself and Paris as living the same lifestyle?

3) There is also no such thing as “The Gay Agenda” unless you call the desire to live in peace and dignity with equal rights an agenda. Thank you for saying so clearly, “the gay community deserves protection against violence, discrimination and tyranny. The right to live safe in this nation and indeed the world should be a proprietary human right.”

4) I don’t think it is true that the nation participated in a wide open debate on gay rights in the last election. If anything the lid was blown off the debate, such that real dialogue began only because of the outcome of the election. Now, today, is when the largest national dialogue is happening. It is also not entirely true to say “Most of the voters said YES” to Prop 8. While there were more Yes than no votes, the percent difference was not very big! It is more honest to say that the state was almost evenly divided and the Yes votes had a very slight edge. Some polls suggest that if the vote was held today, it would go the opposite way. But either way, the state is very divided on this issue, and even a simple majority- enough to pass a prop doesn’t signify “most.”

5) Our Country was founded by pilgrims who left England and Europe to escape religious persecution. My own family tree links to the Sprague family that arrived at Plymouth Colony the year after the Mayflower. They sought, and our brave new world was founded on a basis of Freedom of Religion. But Freedom of Religion is not the same as the ability to force one’s personal religious views upon all others. That is a religious tyranny similar to what my ancestors left to come here. Your ancestors as well as mine both experienced and perpetuated horrific crimes against humanity in the formation and growth of this country- what we are so proud of and are working to uphold today. This is worth thinking about as this dialogue over gay rights continues.

6) I respect your faith and strongly support your freedom to worship as you see fit. Ultimately, it is God who will judge each of us on our actions or lack there of. As a Gay man and a Christian, I am fully ready to stand before my Maker and have no doubt that he will deem my life as moral and acceptable.

7) However, it really irritates me when the Bible is used as the weapon to suggest that my life is immoral by people who claim that we must uphold the Bible at all cost! Where was this same ferocious vigor when the issue of Divorce was raised? Even in Covenant Marriages, divorce is allowed under certain circumstances, yet the words of Jesus are pretty clear, that divorce is a no-no. Those who use a few Bible passages but forget others are hypocrites if they do not apply the same standard to all areas of our culture. I do not think they mean to be hypocritical. I think it is more like the apostle Paul who came to recognize that he was wrong to be persecuting the Christians of his time, and changed his mind about many things.

And folks like you, who write so eloquently about human rights and yet hold to the myth of a “gay lifestyle” simply need to get to know more real gay people. Get to know them by name, and really care about their lives. Share a meal with a gay or lesbian raising children. See them as individuals instead of as stereotypes.

There is more to say, but this is plenty for one day. Again, thanks for your post.

http://kinghannibal.livejournal.com/5215.html?view=351#t351