LGBT Answers

Every generation seems to have someone -- a group of people -- that it looks down on most oppressively -- based on gender, religion, color/race, passport/green card (or lack of), marital status, language, sexuality, income (or lack of)...and so here's this generation of humankind! And the focal point of too much aggression seems to be our neighbors -- our brothers and sisters of the LGBT community. Yes, in this modern age -- in the year 2014. Still.

This truth is all too alive and well: Some people really do hate the LGBT community and their allies. I keep wanting to believe I'm wrong, that I'm overacting, that things are improving enough to give me hope. But then some people open their mouths, and hate is proved. I found that out again recently doing a scan for a radio station on a long drive, in an area I'd never been. A phrase or something pricked my ears, so I stopped the search and listened. Carefully. Eyes bulging, wide open. And I've never screamed, yelled, hollered, or been more disgusted about a radio station in all my life!

The sad aspect: It was a "Christian" radio station.

The venom and meanness they spouted was unbelievable -- directed entirely at the gay community. The self-satisfaction and self-righteousness they expressed were despicable -- with giggling, laughter, and coarse joking. (I'm too disgusted to give some of the words and phrases they used.) I don't like to judge people too harshly, but really, it all came across as exceedingly hateful. They spoke as if an army stood against an army -- about the dangers of the LGBT agenda and, worst of all, that the "supposed" pain and abuse that gay people have endure is all made up and unfounded!

But I know a lot of gay people. And the truth is, every single one of them has been hurt and harmed by basic human unkindness along the way -- for being who they are. They've been treated unfairly. They've endured all kinds of rejection and pain. The stories are told; the stories need to be heard. To tell someone that their pain is unreal or unfounded is piling cruelty on top of hate! I was ashamed of what I heard. Christian radio?!

How do you answers haters? (In this instance not possible.) What do you say when someone says so plainly, "I hate gay people." (Don't tell me they don't because I've heard them!) Here are a few first possibilities I might use after returning my dropped-to-the-floor jaw to its rightful place (a few ironic ones, a few potent ones):

-- Why?! (Using as shrill and judgmental a voice as I can muster!)

-- Well, that's stupid... (Using sneering and snideness as side dishes.)

-- Do you actually know any gay people? (Looking down my nose...)

-- Ha! You're joking right?! (I'm practicing my incredulous face as I type.)

-- Do you even know what year this is?! (Reminding them that we're living post-1940.)

-- I thought you said you were a Christian?! (Can you picture my confused face?)

-- What are you afraid of? What gives you the right to judge? Who taught you to hate? Were your parents a failure in any other important area of your life development? I'm sorry you're living such a bland life! There...now I'm getting warmed up!

But self-righteous, uncaring, unkind haters don't really want a conversation, do they...

I love my gay friends. I'd do anything to shield them from unnecessary and unwarranted harm (any harm, actually; but you know what I mean). I really care about the plight of the LGBT community and the injustices they face routinely -- even daily. My heart aches for friends who really ache. I cry for people who hurt. I'm protective of people who are vulnerable to abuses and bullying...and I don't ever want to lose my tenderness! I cry most of all when I know there are LGBT people crying alone, in pain, and when called-to-love Christians delight in their suffering. They think it's deserved. That is confusing given the biblical call to love... 

So, radio microphone people and those who nod at their venomous words: Leave my friends alone! If you can't live or love like Jesus, then stop using his name. You're living the ugliness of Titus 1:16 and don't seem to realize it: "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him..."

To any/all gay people suffering at the hands and voices of "Christian" people, please know: "Hateful Christian" IS an oxymoron...so please feel free to use Titus 1:16 against them (oops, I mean to help them!)...with my blessing! :-) I love you...Steve xo

[Get used to reading/hearing that verse from me...I love it! Like a cream pie in the face of that ilk!]