Senior ESPN Writer LZ Granderson recounts his own frightening experience with a mob in New Orleans that started with taunts of “faggot.” Granderson is gay and also often writes about social issues surrounding sports on ESPN Page 2, where this story can be found.
As I walked by the group of men — on my way to the Playboy party, no less — one of them called me a faggot. Then another joined in. They followed me for a while, continuing to hurl names at me. I tried to ignore it but eventually the “Detroit” came out of me and I turned around and said some things I probably shouldn’t have. Next thing I know I’m surrounded and wondering if I’m going to see the dawn and if not for a pair of New Orleans policemen who saw trouble brewing and yelled at the group to break it up, I might not have.
He makes a plea to commissioner Roger Goodell to deal with homophobia in the NFL:
…if he’s serious about cleaning up his league, the topic of homophobia in the NFL needs to be included in that conversation. It doesn’t matter if he or I or any of you believe homosexuality is a choice or not. There’s a little something called respect for human life that should supersede the rules commonly found on the playground.
And something which I think sums his argument up perfectly:
For those of you who are reading this and believe I’m trying to forward some sort of agenda, let me be the first to tell you that you are absolutely correct. I want a country where it isn’t OK to get the snot kicked out of you because you’re different.
It’s nice to see an article like this from what might be considered by some an unexpected source. Perhaps if Granderson’s “agenda” catches on, it won’t be such a surprise to see in the not too distant future.
Read the entire article.
Fundamentalists always talk about “pro-gays fighting for the rights to live a homosexual lifestyle”, but Granderson’s story as well as countless others just points to that: The homosexual lifestyle of living in fear.
That should not happen. Nobody chooses a lifestyle with these kinds of harassment and dangers. And all that we want is just to have the right to walk to the shop next door or to the pub across the street without having hate and homophobia lurking around the corner.
Is that really too much to ask for from the fundies?
Yuki:
The simple answer is “yes,” that is asking too much from them, because their way of thinking is totally different from the rest of the world.
I think it is important for every Christian and non-Christian alike to study and understand Fundamentalism, especially fundamentalist faiths that tag the word “Christian” on to it.
They are a people who see that the means justifies the end. The end for them is to eraticate homosexuality from the planet; how they accomplish that is justified because they believe they are doing God’s will. They truly believe they have every right to do whatever it takes to get rid of homosexuality once and for all.
For fundamentalists, it is a war they are waging. I could fill this entry with quote after quote, but I think it would be best for everyone reading this to just click on a fundamentalist website and read what they have to say about us. Just reading Exodus’ website alone is enough to indicate that they are waging a war against the LGBT community.
Just like a war, they will “officially” declare they do not approve of some of the tatics used by their “soldiers,” but the reality is that they secretly do. The example of the men attacking Granderson is an excellent point. Somewhere at some time, a fundamentalist probably read the story and said, “Praise you Jesus.”
The only way these “fundies” will ever respect human life is if they leave their religion, but that is not an easy thing for them to do. Look at all the entries here in the ex-gaywatch blog … many LGBT people had a very difficult time leaving their church communities because one’s faith does define oneself to a very large extent. Leaving one’s faith is the same as leaving one’s identity.
For “fundies,” the only way I see how they eventually change and embrace respecting humanity is when they hit rock bottom and realize their method of belief is contrary to Christ’s teachings. Hitting rock bottom can be a variety of incidents, but what I have seen is they mainly fall into a few categories:
1. a gay person finally admitting their true sexual orientation;
2. the pastor or someone strong in their church has an affair;
3. the person himself/herself has an affair;
4. divorce;
5. the person falls out of favor from their church community for some petty reason;
6. they actually read the Scriptures and begin questioning their faith community at large or their faith leaders;
7. they experience something “forbidden” and enjoy it and leave to persue it.
There may be more reasons, but I see these as the main ones. These reasons usually cause them to rethink their faith, and in most instances, they become more tolerant of human diversity. Anita Bryant is a case in point. There are many other examples of this; many here on the exgaywatch blog are testiments to this as well.
I think as a Christian, it is important to show other Christians the need to understand the true message of Christ. Perhaps in dealing with Fundamentalists who claim the title of Christian, demonstrating Christ’s message is a means to allow them spiritual growth. But one has to have a lot of patience with them and a strong knowledge of the Gospel message. I can attest to that from personal experience.
Yuki, I know you are still relatively new but we try to leave slang generalizations like “fundies” to other blogs 😉
I think that the religious bigots are blind to the fact that they more resemble the powerful religious hypocrites of Yeshua’s day, than the Yeshua they claim to represent.