Rainbow flag. Symbol of gay pride. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Equality for LGBT of course, unless you’re conservative. A Gay Man‘s Grievance With the LGBT crowd is a story by James Scarola that I picked up on Facebook.

Equality for LGBT of course, unless you’re conservative! I recently hit Facebook rather hard promoting the Buell Review of course and because I am a member of the LGBT community, I joined a group called Gay Professionals! What I failed to realize is that things generally went well, until you came out as a Log Cabin Republican Libertarian conservative Gay Professional! Ok, now I’m Rolling on the floor laughing because suddenly I was called a Christofascist, self loathing, self hating, bigot! Actually I’m none of those things, but hey, what do facts matter when you can shout your expletives and hang up, right? I’m still giggling. I wonder how many know what Christo fascism really is, so before we go any further, let’s look it up in the Urban Dictionary at least since it’s a slang term: Christofascism = Evangelical, semi-theocratical movement or temperment of Americans who stand against abortion, sexual education, homosexuality, science, anti-Zionism, and the separation of church and state.

So, as the church lady on Saturday Night live would say, “Isn’t that special!”

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ll admit, this one really pissed me off! Equality for LGBT of course, unless you’re conservative! I was getting ready to lock and load and fire back with a barrage of comebacks in a new article, but I had a beer and decided to carefully write another piece. Mainly, where and how did we go from a community that wanted equality, freedom, Liberty, marriage equality to one that is so blatantly divided that if you are not a Liberal Progressive, then you must be a Christofascist? I mean WTF? Haven’t we been subjected to more than enough of this from outside influences without turning on each other and eating our own? Yes, I am a Log Cabin Republican! Yes, I am a Conservative Libertarian! and you know what? I’m proud of those things because while the left stands behind their favorite cocktail party limousine Liberal cause, we have been out in the front lines confronting ignorance, hatred and bigotry head on. And you’re damn right I’m proud of those things!

Click here to view the embedded video.

We are making a difference in the Republican party causing many younger
voters to turn around and look at the real ideals of conservatism,
Liberty, Freedom, the benefits of self reliance and how it is hard work
that turns into opportunity! Now I’m firmly under the belief that is the heart of the problem. Liberalism is losing out more and more with younger voters who overwhelmingly support Marriage Equality within the Republican party which can only mean one thing, Democrats are starting to lose a core constituency of their party. Only now it is beginning to turn ugly on the LGBT community itself, but this time it’s not from external forces, it’s happening within our own community and we are doing it to each other! We are getting so absorbed into political correctness that we are growing stagnant, and approaching the point where we won’t even agree amongst ourselves how to land the damn plane! Yeah, equality for LGBT unless you’re conservative!

Which brings me to the post I read by James Scarola which explains where me and a lot of others are coming from. This was on DL-Magazine online and I will re post here in it’s entirety:

I’m gay.

What gay means to me remains different than what gay means to you or to someone else who identifies as gay. To others, gay may have a negative connotation and I am okay with that. To me, their affirmation holds no water one way or the other. It remains my mantra as I head into my thirty-seventh month of an eternal coming out process: “Tolerance includes remaining tolerant of the intolerant”.

I don’t think I can even count the amount of times I have been told that I should “just be gay”. Or how, apparently, “shout[ing] it from the rooftops” means that your friends and family “will just deal with it”. That “the ones who mind don’t matter and the ones who matter don’t mind”- thank you Dr. Seuss for that. It all sounds spectacular in theory, I admit; however, the constant barrage of clichés and “be who you are” taglines have actually made it harder to face the challenges with confidence in the way I am going about this. It is as if for some reason, the very community I am, in a way, applying for, seems to have a very specific, exclusive application process.

The truth is everyone will come to terms with their sexuality on a different time table, with different types of people, and a variety of scenarios. I expected my coming out process to be a lot more about shaping who I am and less about fitting a mold. And yet, the gay community, who fights so valiantly for tolerance, remains the most intolerant of people I have faced thus far- why is that?

Does the notion that I communicate reasonably with those who are intolerant of homosexuality make me not as gay as the others? Does the fact that I don’t vote for Democrats make me less deserving of the presumed title? Does the idea that I began straight, became bisexual, and finally ended up gay without ever engaging in sexual relations make my declaration as a gay male less credible? What about how I have yet to talk openly to acquaintances about my desires or sexual preferences?

The reality is that I am gay. Another reality is that not all LGBT individuals need the verbal, or even emotional, acceptance of their peers to be who they are. I, for one, believe that being gay, like being straight, is dependent upon acts committed in private, and are in no need of affirmation by anyone but two consenting individuals. Straight people do not need to come out, nor do they need to talk openly about their sexual ventures to receive the label of a heterosexual. So why do most in the gay community seem so intolerant of those who are gay, yet have no intention, or need, to publicly adorn themselves with such titles?

The LGBT community has its roots in liberty. We boast the concept of freeing yourself from the burden of societal norms. While others went about following the straight and narrow, we hacked down the brush to make our own path in this life. Who is to say that the path I’ve carved out is more or less exemplary than yours? I shall remind you to remain inclusive, while you too, fight for inclusion. Unfortunately, I sense that this community we’ve built may be sliding quickly into an age-old hierarchal structure perpetuated by constant judgment of its members and others.

If I am not mistaken, I believe the LGBT community has, or will in the near future, hit a point of stagnation. The roots of its core have stopped short at the sight of flashing lights and a live ‘mic’. We are unique in our persistent notion that we’ve been robbed of acceptance all along, and I don’t want to see a uniquely resilient community become complacent at the hand of demagogues. Political rhetoric has served as a filler of the void. The notion that someone in Washington might give a single damn about us, despite the all too familiar scent of pandering, was our weak spot. It provided that acceptance we had been robbed of and it has, subsequently, robbed us of greater potential.

As our roots have grown, we tasted the nourishment of acceptance and stopped right there, unaware of everyone we would leave untouched, further buried underground. Our fight does not begin or end with the legislative process. It does not matter how many laws keep us in mind- the government cannot protect us from intolerance. We are the only ones who have the power to affect individuals on a personal level.

Let’s make it easier for LGBT youth to hack down the brush and carve a path for themselves. We can start by clearing the brush, not by telling them where they should end up once they have. I wish for nothing more than the LGBT community to define itself not by the titles its members declare, but by the actions and behavioral standards it exemplifies.

We need more LGBT figures in schools whose reputation is not based on their sexual preference, but on their attention to the students. Don’t turn and run from the concept of faith- what impact does that have? Make yourself known in the church by your dedication to God and to the neighborhood, despite your differences. We need to make our way into the center of the communities whose struggling youth search for the outreach only we can provide.

This LGBT community has the potential to be the most informed, stoic, and active collection of individuals in our nation. The real impact starts when the lives of young people are touched by an individual whose identity is not in a title of sexual preference, but in moral upstanding and a knack for inspiring achievement.

Thank you James Scarola! You actually took the words right out of my mouth and beat me to the punch, but your article was very well received! You explained exactly how I felt when I joined Gay Professionals on Facebook when I encountered this from one of the moderators I will not name: Personally
I don’t see how anyone who is gay can support the Republican Party who
are against gay rights such as marriage or women’s rights for abortion. I
think it’s delusional and self loathing in part to support a party that
is actively against basic human rights even if you agree with them on a
financial level.

I refuse to give money to groups so that they can spend that money on fighting my basic rights!

I
doubt you will find much support for your organization in this group
and personally I would delete this post based on the support of the GOP.
However I am trying to be a fair moderator and I think it falls under
the guidelines for a professional organization for this group.

Bravo, I agreed, freedom of speech is a First Amendment right that belongs to ALL of us, and I’m not in support of the GOP, I’m trying to make them understand they NEED us, but then this happened: how
nice of you to post “Ok guys, I took part in the Gay Professionals
webpage here on Facebook, but I’m sorry that I did it. You see, any of
us who happen to be conservative are misguided and you can not buck the
party line!.blah blah self loathing ChristoFascist BLAH

So if you are sorry that you joined let the door smack you upside your self loathing ChristoFascist head on your way out.

I will not name that person either. I have no idea if any of these people are really using their own real names or not and frankly I don’t care, I however am, but let me explain this, I didn’t leave the Democrat Party ok? They left me when they purged themselves of the Blue Dog Democrats and that was just the start! I no longer belong to the Gay professionals webpage, but I started one of my own on Facebook at this link for Gay Conservative Professionals. James Scarola said

The real impact starts when the lives of young people are
touched by an individual whose identity is not in a title of sexual
preference, but in moral upstanding and a knack for inspiring
achievement.

Well said James! Like I said, you beat me to the punch because what I wanted to end my article with was this:

The real impact will start having an effect when the lives of younger generations aren’t touched by an individual who’s identity is one of sexual preference, but by one who has an unwavering integrity and a strong moral compass who inspires others to achieve success!

Either way James Scarola, I really hope to meet you someday and when the Buell Review makes it onto Blog Talk Radio, I hope you will guest host the program with me some time! And thank you for the friend request! Here is my project to take the Buell Review onto Blog Talk Radio!