Yes, Listen to the bigot. You might learn something.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Bryan Fischer, president of The American Family Association.

(Note: Before you watch the following video, know that I do not agree with or endorse anything it says.  What you are about to hear is vile, disgusting bullshit spewed from the mouth of a vile, disgusting human being.)




You may be wondering why I, a staunch advocate for GLBT rights and same-sex marriage, decided to post this.  I should hate this video with every fiber of my being, but I can't.  The truth is that I'm actually kind of glad that Fischer made his point of view known.  I'm glad that he came out and said that not only is he firmly against homosexuality, but that he believes that Christians should be able to discriminate against GLBT people.

This all might sound crazy, but to me it does make some kind of sense.  As an advocate for GLBT rights, I often find myself surrounded by like-minded people.  Most of my friends these days are GLBT or GLBT supportive.  There are a few who aren't, but for the most part they're respectful and civil enough to not openly discriminate against GLBT people.  The thing about almost always being around people who are accepting of GLBT people is that I'm not often exposed to anybody with a truly hateful or prejudiced mindset.  It's almost like I forget that there are still plenty of truly homophobic people out there, people who still believe that there is a "homosexual agenda" that will destroy this country unless we start treating gay people as subhuman.

I sometimes need a reminder of what GLBT people and their allies are truly fighting against.  It's too easy for me to look around at the many happy same-sex couples that I know and marvel at how much better life is for them than it would've been just a few decades ago.  It's too easy for me to forget that there are people that truly believe that gays are horrible people who are no different from deranged criminals or terrorists, so much so that I'm shocked whenever someone like Bryan Fischer steps forward and voices his hateful and prejudiced views on homosexuality.

I cannot let myself be shocked by this though, and neither should anyone else.  The fact of the matter is that while things have gotten better for GLBT people across the country, homophobia and prejudice towards anybody who is openly not straight are still serious problems.  Things like this video and the radio show where I'm sure Fischer regularly spews similarly vile, disgusting bullshit are reminders of this.  We need to know that mindsets such as this are still out there, and that we need to fight against it.

So when you hear somebody talking about how much of a threat the "homosexual agenda" is to religious freedom, don't get angry at the people saying these things.  They're letting us know what GLBT people and their allies are up against.  Thanks to them, we know about the attitudes we need to change.  It's these attitudes that truly deserve your anger, and hopefully in a few years we can convince others how archaic and backwards this discriminatory mindset really is.