Somebody Think of the Children

I would like to share some of the things I thought were important from the Vote No gathering I recently attended.

1. Gay people are exactly the same as straight people. They laughed, they yelled, they congratulated me on the Vikings winning, they told me they rooted for the Saints, they spilled beer on the floor and apologized for doing so. They asked for autographs, shook my hand, posed for pictures, and introduced me to their significant others. They talked about how excited they were for the Vikings’ season this year, told me how long they’ve been season-ticket holders, and asked if I thought that Ponder kid was going to be any good (I said yes). At no point was I excessively fondled and at no time did a bacchanalian riot threaten the chastity of my pants fasteners. In short, it was American citizens doing American activities in a quintessentially American way.
2. Gay people are not treated as American citizens. The number of individuals who came up and thanked Brendon and me for taking a stand was staggering and, frankly, depressing. I use the word depressing because if so many have to thank us for showing basic empathy, thank us for recognizing that they are human beings just like everyone else, that means that many, many other people have not. What that says about our society makes me ill, and it means that we are failing the American dream. America is supposed to be where people go to escape oppression, to escape persecution, to escape tyranny; sure, we haven’t always gotten it right over the years, but we should always strive for that elusive goal of equality. Right now, we’re just not getting it done.
3. One conversation that I had will stick with me for the rest of my life. It involved a local high school teacher and coach. He walked up, introduced himself, shook my hand, and said these exact words: “I want to thank you for speaking up. What you did will save children’s lives.”

This really hit me, in a primal way I was not expecting. A man who interacts with our youth every day, who sees their struggles and their triumphs and their failures, told me that my words meant a child might find hope instead of despair, might dare to believe he could be accepted for who he is.

Do you know how exceedingly ANGRY PUMA GROWL that is? A child should never have to feel that way. A child should never think that suicide is the only option, the only solution to the tormenting and bullying and unthinking viciousness adults often unwittingly pass along to the young. A child should never become a casualty in a war of oppression, of bigotry, of petty small-mindedness.

Because, make no mistake, children who suffer this way are casualties. All the hopes, all the dreams, all the wonderful potential life has in store are as dust before the scouring winds of intolerance (whether it be racist, sexist, or religious). Every time you propagate the message that a person who is gay is less than human, that same-sex marriage cannot be as filled with love and laughter and tears as heterosexual marriage, that gays don’t deserve to pass a legacy on to their families, you quicken that howling storm and sweep away a tiny bit more humanity from the world, drive one more child to contemplating the cold razor’s bite or the yawning abyss of the overdose because he or she simply cannot deal with the unceasing assault upon the psyche.

Well, I, for one, will not stand for it. I will not stand for a world that demeans those it finds “different” or “gross.” I will not stand for an ideology that promotes slavish adherence to a single arbitrary standard, that sacrifices children on the altar of oppression and control. I will not stand for one more RED-TINGED-MUSHROOM-CLOUD second of people thinking that they have the right to live other people’s lives for them, of the complete lack of empathy so often shown in our society.

I stand for gay marriage. I stand for the end of segregation. I stand for a woman’s right to choose, both whom she votes for and what is done to her body. I stand for equality under the law, for treating others how I would want to be treated, for the fundamental human right to live a happy life free of tyranny.

I stand for my children.