Monday, on MLK Day, my friend, Kissyface, posted a video of The Beattles song Blackbird to my facebook page and left this comment:
God Bless the Good Reverend Doctor, Martin Luther King, Jr.! As you probably know, McCartney wrote this shortly after Little Rock. As a child I was told it was about the struggle of black people, and obviously the tune is so powerful and beautiful in its simplicity, so naturally I was greatly affected by it. I posted it to my wall a bit ago, but also wanted to put it here in gratitude to you for recognizing, promoting, and extending the understanding that all people deserve civil rights, specifically gay people. I've said before that my father, the excommunicated Mormon Republican, a poor boy from Utah, practiced pro bono civil rights law in Mississippi in the mid-60s, when it was not safe to do so. His broken wing was his sexuality, and he never forgave himself for it. I'm sure it was what did him in, and had the world been gentler on his generation, he'd be fighting the good fight now.
The promoting she's referring to is my propensity for advocating for gay rights on my facebook page. I'm always posting links to articles on gay issues and pleading the case for their fair treatment. I don't do it to be inherently controversial. I do it because I want to be a bridge between the LGBT community and those religious conservatives (a category to which many of my facebook friends belong) who still think homosexuality is a sin. I do it for people like Kissyface's dad.
I have no interest in changing anyone's theological viewpoint on the issue of homosexuality but what I would like to be a part of is changing the way theological conservatives view and treat gays and lesbians. I believe that it's possible to hold on to a belief that homosexuality is a sin (though I gave the viewpoint up myself years ago) and still allow gays and lesbians full civil rights. In my mind, there's no contradiction. You just simply love your neighbor as yourself.
So my views on gay marriage? I'm for it. I wish we all were.
Note: I am posting this via email from work. When I get home, I'll add links, formatting and whatnot, as well as do another 30 Days of Truth post.
3 comments:
Bless you! You may know that Poor George and I are legally married (at least in about 6 states.) Unfortunately, it was really hard for me to be ecstatic about Obama's election because on that same night we lost the battle for gay marriage in California.
Oh, I have to go fix PG a cocktail now. I'll catch up with Day 19 later. I like this project - I may do it myself!
Thanks for taking the time to catch up on my blog, CP! I'd love to read your answers if you decide to take on this project, though I've yet to complete the last two days myself.
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