Enough

So yesterday was kind of a tough day for me, as you can tell by 1) the content of yesterday's blog, and 2) the fact that I'm actually blogging two days in a row. 

Due to my mood and general state of fed-up-ness, I decided I would make a concerted effort today to avoid all 'those kind' of articles/blogs/websites/facebook posts. And thankfully today was hella busy, so it was pretty easy. But alas...on a night when I should be absolutely worn out, I find myself (yet again) horribly awake and alert.

I tried to read my new Esquire magazine. I tried to lay on the couch and watch TV, through about five different positions and 20 channels. I tried working on the six-string lanyard I want to make for my vape pouch. I tried just writing an entry in my personal journal, playing Chuzzle on my phone (OMG. So addicted.), and surfing facebook.

It was this last one that delivered me into temptation. In case there are more of you out there trying to avoid getting lost in online story/search tangents, do not open your facebook. It's the gateway drug of the interwebz, I tell you. The ganja of Google. A bong full of Bing. 

Just close down your laptop and move away, because you will be sucked into the vortex of endless, time-devouring cyber-digging. Don't say I didn't warn you.

As I should have guessed would happen, all it took was one story to get my activist juices flowing, and I was ready to open five hundred windows and start diving in.

But then a strange thing happened...when I opened up a new window in Safari, I actually stopped for a minute and looked at my default homepage. Now I don't know about you, but since I open new windows so much and am usually focused on a certain topic I need to research or look for, I rarely even glance at the default page that pops up. 

And that's kind of sad, because that page for me is LGBTQ Nation, one of the leading collective sources of nationwide LGBT news and other goings-on. But the sight of it had become so commonplace, I was just blowing right past it. 

Tonight, I didn't. 

I watched as the top stories scrolled by with their lead-ins and colorful photos. I read the teasers listed down the right side of the page, offering up the "Views & Voices" of our community regarding current events. I skimmed over the attention-grabbing titles of the stories filling up the rest of the page. Then I started clicking. 

Part of me wishes desperately I hadn't, because until then I really thought I'd been digging deep into the latest happenings - visiting all my regular pages to debunk and educate the ignorant and/or ill-informed. But I realized that by doing that, I was actually avoiding all the special-interest stories (man, I'm using a lot of hyphen-related words today!); personal, anecdotal accounts of what's going down on the front lines; and most of all - the pain, confusion, shame, and fear that is still plaguing our community every day.

See...I got caught up like everyone else in the joy and celebration of the Supreme Court decisions, and momentarily forgot that it made absolutely no difference at all to many people in our country. Certainly it didn't mean much for those in other countries, either. And for some law-abiding citizens, it only made things worse, calling attention to their orientation or gender-identity, and making them a scapegoat for all the different forms of hatred dreamed up by our detractors. 

All those feelings I thought I had put safely away began to bubble to the top. Those poison arrows were flying fast and fierce, and all I could do was sit and take it. Then I realized that there are most likely people out there that don't ever even come across these types of stories or read these kinds of articles.                   

I want you guys to kind of see what I see on a daily basis - both to help you understand why I do what I do, and maybe even fire up a little activist juice in you, too!

And yes, I realize I'm now playing the part of the gateway...the one leading you down the rabbit hole of cyberspace, chasing tangents exactly like I cautioned you against. But let's face it - between you and me, you weren't going to listen anyway, were you? 

Didn't think so.

*****

(The top link in the first five categories below is the LGBTQ Nation story; and the second, an outside article regarding the same information.)

Louisiana:
LA GOP councilman proposes flag law after veteran complains of pride flag

Louisiana Republican to introduce bill to ban LGBT rainbow flag from public buildings


Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia:
Lawmaker who wants gays flogged says Russian public needs protection

Putin: Law restricting gay rights in Russia is about "protecting children"


Durham, North Carolina:
Prosecuters: cult leader killed 4-year-old-stepson because he thought he was gay

Cult leader Peter Moses jailed for killing wife and 4 yr-old he accused of 'being gay'


Penalolen, Chile:
Chilean teen loses foot, faces leg amputation following anti-gay attack

Esteban Navarro, Gay Chilean Teen, Will Have Leg Amputated After Alleged Hate Crime


Indianapolis, Indiana:
Gay couples: Applying for a marriage license in Ind. could land you in jail

Prison Awaits Same-Sex Couples Who Try to Get Married in Indiana


Harare, Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe president says gays, lesbians who do not conceive should be jailed

Conceive or face jail, Mugabe tells gays


Sarver, Pennsylvania:
Police, FBI investigate swastika burned in yard of PA family with lesbian daughter





USA, Nationwide:
American Decency Association: Gays are 'disgusting, unnatural'

American Decency Association: DOMA Decision Just Like Pearl Harbor

'Ex-gay' activist: President Obama, Justices Kennedy, Kagan are secretly gay

Barton: Gays will 'enlist in the military just so they can have gay marriages'

Barton: DOMA Ruling Will Force Chaplains to Perform Gay Weddings...

Gallagher: Supreme Court DOMA Decision a 'Declaration of War'...

Keyes: Case for Gay Marriage Same as the Case for Slavery
     (original article by Keyes here)

Pulled Back From Suicide, a Gay Grandmother Asks How to Treat Those Who Shun Her

Catholic Cardinal calls gay US ambassador nominee a "faggot"

Middle school student branded with 'fag' slur on back of his neck by bullies


Pat Robertson (yes, he deserves his own category):
Pat Robertson says he vomits at the sight of gay couples

Gays will 'destroy' Boy Scouts to 'accommodate kids who want sex with each other'

Gays can change just like murderers and rapists

Cites Levitical Death Penalty for Gays, Warns the Land Will 'Vomit You Out'

*****

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

These articles are the type of thing I read daily, following the links to another page...and another...and another, leaving trails of comments and encouragement and education in my wake as often as possible.

Each of these pieces somehow sprung from the LGBTQ Nation website, and it's honestly a little disturbing how quickly I could find and link all these stories for you to see. I want you all to get a taste of why I get so frustrated and downright angry at times - it's hard to face this much hate and misinformation every single day.

Like I said in yesterday's post, I have no intention of giving up, now or in the future. 

And I am feeling better, thank you for asking.

But this isn't the way I want to leave the world for my children. I cannot settle for 'good enough' on this issue. I will not. All this hate and second-class citizenry...all these horrible people with their small minds and their steadfast refusal to believe anything that didn't come out of the mouth of God, himself... It's almost too much. 

Enough is enough.

And I say - it's more than enough.