Interesting Article
http://louisjmarinelli.com/politics/i-now-support-full-marriage-equality
Win. I like people who recant and apologize when they realize they were wrong. It’s amazing how much a simple sincere apology can do.
In the article, Marinelli discusses how once the gay and lesbian counter-protesters became real, fathomable people, he began to question what he was doing. This brings up an interesting point: it’s easier to hurt people you don’t know. I heard this phrase used Friday in history class and I thought it was brilliant.
It’s true though, isn’t it? Isn’t it easier to deny the rights of people you have never met and refuse to associate with? Isn’t it easier to hurt a person you never have to see again? Why is it so common for gay teens to take their lives, and yet it takes months and years to repeal the barriers that hinder human rights? I feel that a good number of opponents of gay rights can so adamantly support anti-gay causes primarily because they don’t see the LGBT community as people, but rather as distant figures trying to perpetrate the sanctity of marriage. Some people don’t profoundly know and understand that gays are also people. Perhaps if there were a few more LGBT people out of the closet, more people could get to know them and understand them as human beings. They could see the direct effect of their hurtful words and unjust laws. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to open myself up more to the people around me. I hope to make it harder for others to deny my rights, and easier to show me a helping hand. I hope to make it easier to support equality. I hope that one day it will be easier to give a right than to take a life.
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Comments
I'm not sure that I agree
I'm not sure that I agree with the statement that it is easier to hurt people we don't know. I think that, in a way, it's easier to hurt our friends and family because we're around them all the time and we know them and when we feel like lashing out and being hurtful they're there.
ANYWAY...I think that society is taking baby steps towards accepting gay people. There's still a lot of ignorance that needs to be turned around, but we're definitely making progress.
It's so incredibly easy to
It's so incredibly easy to hurt people we don't know. I do it all the time, even when I try and stay conscious of it. But that's the thing, we're always going to be stepping on toes. What sets us apart from barbaric chauvinists is realizing that we have a profound effect on people. Social imagination is the first step towards peace.
In any case, I really can't take anyone seriously that bases their marriage claims on their faith, especially on the Catholic faith. If there were to be on religion that makes me insane, it's that one. It's not the believers at all, but it's the entire order of that damn institution. The fact that they're willing to protect "men of G-d" when they hurt innocent children is beyond me. Couple that with the fact that females can only participate as a religious authority to the degree of being a nun and the recognizable fallibility of the infallible (the Pope) then you have one of the most corrupt institutions.
I really don't understand why I can't be afforded privileges from the state because a crew of chauvinistic, sexist and hurtful white old men say I can't.