When Hatred Defines a Movement
It can be argued that resentment and hostility in the LGBT movement, at one time, was fully justified. The Religious Right was heavily focused on homosexuality as a concept and often disregarded how its message impacted gay individuals. Many organizations, advocacy and political and writing careers grew out of combating a narrative that felt unfair and hateful. In many ways it was the advocacy of love, tolerance and normalcy from much of gay media that successfully integrated gay people into society. But the progressive instinct to perpetually challenge the status quo and demand change by any means necessary has taken the gay movement into the very depths of hatred and bigotry it long fought to remove from society.
Today’s LGBT movement, ever growing in title inclusion, has grown tedious and vindictive in its obsession with battling the demons long since defeated by society as a whole. The Religious Right responded to dramatic social change its members felt were morally destructive to the country and the gay rights movement fought to challenge legal limitations on personal behavior and gain legal recognition and protections. But society adapted and over time gay individuals assimilated into everyday life. The problem is that while the Religious Right dispersed and even its most dedicated remnants are far more open and tolerant today, the progressive gay movement has never followed suit. It simply never adapted to the world it helped create.
In an Huffington Post article by LGBT pioneer, Noah Michelson, Editorial Director of HuffPost Personal, titled, If You Really Love LGBTQ People, You Just Can’t Keep Eating Chick-fil-A, argues that queer people and their allies have an obligation to continue the fight against Christian advocacy. Demanding that refusing to eat at the restaurant is a valid form of protest, Michelson argues, “But when a corporation is wafting its anti-queer stance directly under your nose, as Chick-fil-A has and continues to do, not giving them more money to use against us is a no-brainer.” His post was in response to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey innocently boosting the restaurant after eating there and then being shamed. He quickly apologized.
In 2012, Chick-fil-A owner Dan Cathy advocated for traditional marriage and argued that marriage held Biblical meaning and could not be so easily manipulated by society to fit its needs. He stated, “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.” He later discussed the impact of potentially isolating segments of the population from his restaurant by saying, “I think the time of truths and principles are captured and codified in God’s word and I’m just personally committed to that,” he said. “I know others feel very different from that and I respect their opinion and I hope that they would be respectful of mine.”
This declaration of respectful tolerance, however, did not move Michelson who argued that the organization donated millions to ‘anti-LGBT’ groups in 2009. The list of organizations includes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Focus on the Family as well as $1,000 to the now defunct Exodus International. Of course, in 2009 President Barack Obama and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held the identical view on marriage, as did a significant majority of the American population. In 2012, while Hillary remained squarely on the side of Chick-fil-A, the drag queen group, DWV released a parody song titled ‘Chow Down at Chick-fil-A’ (NSFW), an anthem to encourage gays to protest the restaurant by eating there. The assumption being that Chick-fil-A wouldn’t want gay customers out of bigotry. The song contains lyrics like “But no don’t, don’t ya know, Chick-fil-A say you’ll make the baby Jesus cry?… So, please don’t sue us for libel, We just want a little meat without your Bible…Chow down at Chick-fil-A, even if you’re gay.” Chick-fil-A has never been known to discriminate against LGBT customers or employees.
Vice President Mike Pence recently visited Pennsylvania and was greeted with an image of Philadelphia Democratic lawmaker, Brian Sims, a gay man, raising his middle finger saying, “To be clear, we’re a City of soaring diversity. We believe in the power of all people to live and to contribute: Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Atheist, Immigrant, we want you and we’ll respect you,” Sims wrote in the post. “So keep that in mind while you’re here raising money to attack more families, spread more lies, blaspheme with your bible, and maybe even talk to a woman without your wife in the room.” He ended his post declaring ‘So…get bent, then get out!’ LGBT media lit up in celebration of the story with LGBT cheering on the display of ‘resistance’ during gay Pride month.
In a more disturbing example of how hysteria can manifest in the minds and emotions of people being manipulated, the ABC News TV series, What Would You Do?, featured two fictional scenarios in public to gauge reaction. In one scenario, actors portraying a Christian baker and a gay couple dramatically acted out what the Left imagines refusing service to gay people must look like. The show used the Masterpiece Cake Shop case as inspiration. In the second scenario actors portrayed a Christian couple berating a lesbian waitress by denying her a tip. The waitress scenario was based on a 2017 incident where a lesbian waitress claimed a Christian couple refused to tip her after seeing her rainbow tattoo.
The purpose of the show was to capture reactions from people nearby witnessing the incident unfolding. In both cases, people nearby reacted by defending the fictional gay victims. One woman shouted at the fictional cake baker, “If you’re not going to serve them….we’re going to take our business elsewhere!”, the fictional couple were threatened with physical assault by bystanders when they refused to give the fictional waitress a tip. The article describing the baker episode cited one customer saying, “A black man who said he doesn’t believe in same-sex marriage was moved to tears, angry that the couple was being discriminated against: “Back in the day, just because I’m black, they wouldn’t have allowed me to walk in and sit at one of these tables.” It should be noted that the Masterpiece Cake Shop case did not involve the owner refusing service to the gay couple in question. The waitress example was never followed up on after the initial claim, but others with similar stories have been outed as hoaxes in the past.
There is a movement of angry, outraged and passionate advocates battling what they imagine is an immediate and real danger. But in truth, they are fighting shadows and hallucinations. Worse, they are manufacturing bigotry, paranoia and hatred through forced reenactments of events largely exaggerated or emotionally manipulated for a specific reaction. The leaders of the LGBT movement seem far more interested in perpetuating fear than enjoying equality and normalcy, and simply marinate in a fictional world loosely based on a true story.
From restaurants being retroactively convicted of past thought-crimes of the owner, to heavily embellished political narratives irrationally featuring political leaders as mindless enemies to literal plays designed to expose and shame the public, LGBT has become a movement of vindictiveness and prejudice. They seem convinced of the public’s disdain for them despite widespread support and seem equally determined to prove it through obnoxious displays and aggressive bullying. Their obsession with the political and religious motivations of a generation gone by has infected their thinking to such a degree they can no longer tell what is real and what is imagined.
It is ironic, as the first time I heard the drag queen song about Chick-fil-A, I interpreted it as mocking the silly notion being gay should determine where you eat. The lyrics, ‘Chow down at Chick-fil-A, even if you’re gay’ made me chuckle with hopeful amusement that even those within the LGBT media recognized how ridiculous they were being. In truth, they were fantasizing about a hateful organization that didn’t want them in their restaurant and they were raising a middle finger in defiance out of spite. It was never true. Neither does the irrational anger Mr. Sims expressed towards Mike Pence reflect anything resembling what Pence stands for or who he is as a person. Despite setting up a perfect example of homophobic hate in an attempt to expose and shame the Right, LGBT seems incapable of recognizing most of the real people in the scenarios angrily spoke out in defense of the gay people they believed were being treated unfairly.
In their desire to defeat hatred, they have become the bullies accusing innocent people of malicious thoughts and beliefs despite all evidence to the contrary. They live in a perpetuate state of outrage and paranoia and never truly get to enjoy the liberty they have fought for. This is not isolated to the LGBT movement and has become a feature of progressive political expression, but bigotry and hatred never stay in one population. It always spreads. It matters how we respond to the intolerance of others and demonstrating it in kind only allows resentment and anger to become more powerful. For those of us interested in peaceful civility, coexistence and normalcy, this kind of political thinking should push us towards fighting for more tolerance. Sadly, the movement that considered itself the champion of that battle has lost its way. We have to shine a light to help it find its way back.
