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The right wing gay sex scandals
Sep. 2nd, 2007 02:17 amA la Larry Craig, Ted Haggard et al (and there is a lot of all)
I’ve heard many people scream (justly) about these and especially about the hypocrisy about these homophobes who seek their jollies with man on man sex after trying to force the rest of us into the closet (or worse). I think, though, that I have a different view from many.
The point is less about hypocrisy (though that IS a point, and anyone speaking out about sexual morality who goes and has sleazy sex in public toilets is a hypocrite - no matter how guilty they feel afterwards) and even less about the damage these men have done.
The point is that these men - all of them, not just Larry Craig - are VICTIMS.
Homophobia destroys lives. It's as simple as that.
Sometimes it's obvious, as in the tragic and painful case of Matthew Shephard. As in the innumerable homosexuals who take their own lives because they cannot stand living with themselves any longer.
But they are not the only lives ruined. Larry Craig, Ted Haggard et al are more examples of lives destroyed by homophobia. Brought up immersed in cultural and societal self-hate these men never had a chance. They were given no chance to truly live as who and what they are. They were forced into a life of repression, unfullfillment (assuming that is a word) and general misery where these kind of sordid sexcapades are the best release they can find. Imagine that - the most honest expression of your sexuality you have open to yourself is anonymous sex in a toilet. That is a life ruined - I'd say a life ruined just as much as the kid who slits his wrists because he thinks he is perverted and evil and even as much as the man or woman violently and murderously assaulted by homophobes in the street.
These men are victims. They are broken, scarred, wounded victims. They go on to try and victimise others - victimise their brother and sister homosexuals - but they are still victims who have suffered immeasurably because of virulent homophobia that has scarred them and remains a blight on our cultures.
These men do NOT deserve our hate, not even our anger and our condemnation. They deserve our heartfelt pity - pity for their ruined lives and what could have been.
If we do feel hate and anger arising from this sorry affair that direct it appropriately - direct it against the vast forces that every day tell us from childhood that being gay is wrong, that being gay is evil, that we are filthy, corrupted, perverted, broken, valueless and sick. This is what we should oppose, not so people think nice things about us, not because people need to accept us, but to save the future Larry Craigs from an equally miserable and sad existence.
Gay people grow up with this sickening, self-loathing propaganda that hits us almost from the cradle. It is unrelenting in the media, in the casual comments of everyone around us, in literature, in dominant religions - everywhere it is hammered home that gays are inferior, that we are unworthy, broken, filthy, damaged, laughable, ridiculous, perverted, sick, evil - from the very cradle this message is driven home. And the fact that I, or any homosexual, have managed to escape this speaks more for luck than anything else. There but for the grace of the gods go I. I could have very easily been a Larry Craig and I thank all the gods, my parents, my friends and general good fortune that I am not.
So to Larry Craig and all the rest of these hypocrites I say this - I am sorry. I am truly and deeply sorry that life has screwed you over this badly. I am sorry that you were hurt so badly. I am sorry that you were so twisted and so warped by what must have been an agonising adolescence. I cannot imagine the pain you suffered and likely continue to suffer to this day and I grieve that you had to suffer one single minute of it and I vow that I will do everything in my power to ensure that future generations will not have to suffer as you did.
I’ve heard many people scream (justly) about these and especially about the hypocrisy about these homophobes who seek their jollies with man on man sex after trying to force the rest of us into the closet (or worse). I think, though, that I have a different view from many.
The point is less about hypocrisy (though that IS a point, and anyone speaking out about sexual morality who goes and has sleazy sex in public toilets is a hypocrite - no matter how guilty they feel afterwards) and even less about the damage these men have done.
The point is that these men - all of them, not just Larry Craig - are VICTIMS.
Homophobia destroys lives. It's as simple as that.
Sometimes it's obvious, as in the tragic and painful case of Matthew Shephard. As in the innumerable homosexuals who take their own lives because they cannot stand living with themselves any longer.
But they are not the only lives ruined. Larry Craig, Ted Haggard et al are more examples of lives destroyed by homophobia. Brought up immersed in cultural and societal self-hate these men never had a chance. They were given no chance to truly live as who and what they are. They were forced into a life of repression, unfullfillment (assuming that is a word) and general misery where these kind of sordid sexcapades are the best release they can find. Imagine that - the most honest expression of your sexuality you have open to yourself is anonymous sex in a toilet. That is a life ruined - I'd say a life ruined just as much as the kid who slits his wrists because he thinks he is perverted and evil and even as much as the man or woman violently and murderously assaulted by homophobes in the street.
These men are victims. They are broken, scarred, wounded victims. They go on to try and victimise others - victimise their brother and sister homosexuals - but they are still victims who have suffered immeasurably because of virulent homophobia that has scarred them and remains a blight on our cultures.
These men do NOT deserve our hate, not even our anger and our condemnation. They deserve our heartfelt pity - pity for their ruined lives and what could have been.
If we do feel hate and anger arising from this sorry affair that direct it appropriately - direct it against the vast forces that every day tell us from childhood that being gay is wrong, that being gay is evil, that we are filthy, corrupted, perverted, broken, valueless and sick. This is what we should oppose, not so people think nice things about us, not because people need to accept us, but to save the future Larry Craigs from an equally miserable and sad existence.
Gay people grow up with this sickening, self-loathing propaganda that hits us almost from the cradle. It is unrelenting in the media, in the casual comments of everyone around us, in literature, in dominant religions - everywhere it is hammered home that gays are inferior, that we are unworthy, broken, filthy, damaged, laughable, ridiculous, perverted, sick, evil - from the very cradle this message is driven home. And the fact that I, or any homosexual, have managed to escape this speaks more for luck than anything else. There but for the grace of the gods go I. I could have very easily been a Larry Craig and I thank all the gods, my parents, my friends and general good fortune that I am not.
So to Larry Craig and all the rest of these hypocrites I say this - I am sorry. I am truly and deeply sorry that life has screwed you over this badly. I am sorry that you were hurt so badly. I am sorry that you were so twisted and so warped by what must have been an agonising adolescence. I cannot imagine the pain you suffered and likely continue to suffer to this day and I grieve that you had to suffer one single minute of it and I vow that I will do everything in my power to ensure that future generations will not have to suffer as you did.