Tag: Bigotry

Shoshana Silcove: “I am against gay marriage”

Shoshana Silcove posted a comment on Mark Baker’s blog on Galus Australis telling the world she is against gay marriage.  That would make her a party pooper and a homophobic bigot, for starters.

Shoshana writes (her spelling errors are included):

I am against gay marriage but, that does not mean I would in any way supoort slaughtering people for being gay. One can see homsexuality as immoral yet, not be in any manner or form a proponent of persecution or genocide of gays. Persecuting or genociding any one group for any reason is horrifc and immoral too. I take umbrage with Mr. Baker’s implication (read between the lines) that those who do not want to see gay marriage legalised are inclined to be immoral persecutors or murderous beasts.

Let’s play a game here.  I think I’ll call it ‘swapsies’.  It goes like this.  Take a word out of a sentence and swap it with one or more other words.  It’s very simple.  We’ll play the game using Shoshana’s statement:

I am against gay inter-racial marriage
I am against gay Jewish marriage
I am against gay Progressive-Jewish-is-not-really-Jewish marriage
I am against gay Muslim marriage
I am against gay Christian marriage
I am against gay indigenous marriage
I am against gay secular marriage
I am against gay religious marriage
I am against gay fat-person marriage
I am against gay really-ugly-person marriage
I am against gay disabled-person marriage
I am against gay marriage-of-convenience marriage
I am against gay marriage

That was fun.  I’m sure I could play the game for hours on end.  Will they bring it our for Xbox or as an Android/iPhone App?  But what would Shoshana Silcove have to say about these?  Would she approve or disapprove of any of them?  Shoshana?   Do any of them appeal to you?  Send me your preferences.  I’d like to hear them.

Dear Shoshana, who gives you the authority to determine which two consenting adults can or can’t get married?  If same-sex marriage doesn’t please you, kindly refrain from commenting.  I don’t care who you marry.  It’s none of your business to make judgement calls about who I can marry.  I may disapprove of your choice in marital partner, if anyone would want to marry you, but to be honest, I don’t give a rats arse.

Michael.

Bobby and Danny: victims of religious bigotry

Bobby and Danny are dead.  They were victims of religious bigotry.  They were someone’s sons and now they’re dead.  They’re dead because their families didn’t understand them and let them suffer and die horrible, miserable lonely deaths.  Their families believed they were doing the right thing because of their own selfish religious beliefs.

  • Bobby Griffith and his mother Mary

These deaths were all avoidable.  If the families of these boys told them they loved them irrespective of their sexual orientation they would probably still be alive today, living happy, fulfilling lives.  But they’re gone, forever.  Their memories live on, but that’s a poor compromise.  These were normal boys.  They deserved better of their families.

Ask yourself if upholding your religious beliefs is worth the death of your children.  In 2009 Suicide Prevention Australia released research that showed people who experience same-sex attraction are up to 14 times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.  This statistic is frightening.   Add to this that the situation is exacerbated in religious communities and you have a recipe for disaster.

You owe it to your children to ensure they receive the most loving, accepting environment possible.  Religious intolerance is guaranteed to harm them.  This is proven.  The only way to overcome this is to overcome your prejudices and accept them for the wonderful people they are.

Remember Bobby and Danny and don’t let your children become statistics like them.