Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Why is discrimination OK when it's against gays?

OK so I'm back for what has apparently become my annual post...I'm sure all the readers I don't have missed me.

The topic of discussion for the past year has been gay rights since gay marriage was legalized in the state of California, over 18,000 couples married, then the right to marry was almost immediately revoked due to the fabulous Prop 8, which is now undergoing careful examination at the state supreme court to determine it's validity.

However, what brings this ongoing topic to the forefront today is a glamorized puffed up painted on bleach bottle blonde bimbo (yay tongue twisters!) who represented the state of Cali in the ultimate reminder that looks are in fact, everything, the Miss USA pageant. Asked by famed celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, an openly gay web icon (whom no one knows how he became an icon in the first place), if she felt gay marriage should be legalized, she replied "In my country, and in my family, I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman." She lost the crown. Ha! But later came to her own defense by claiming "...I see the audience would have wanted me to be more politically correct, but I was raised in a way that you can never compromise your beliefs or opinions for anything."

Does she have a point in her last statement? Yes. No one should compromise themselves to succeed, it taints whatever success may come as a result and you sold yourself out. However, I truly believe that if you are in fact, a bigot, you might want to invest some time in changing those beliefs and opinions for something a little more 21st century. And I hope those gays who do your hair and make-up don't find your "opinions" so offensive that they burn off your extensions while they're still attached to your scalp.

My question is, why is it OK to discriminate when its against gays? In a country that's so politically correct that a teen pop star can't pull her eyelids down in a personal photo without getting sued for billions, why is it OK to openly state that gays are not equal and don't deserve equal rights? And why is family, religion, and way of life a legitimate excuse for that hatred? "It's just the way I was raised". Would that excuse have flown when Mel Gibson accused Jews of everything? Does that excuse fly for the KKK, the Aryan Brotherhood? So why does it fly for anti-gays and homphobes? Why is it, when Halle Berry makes a jewish nose joke, or Rosie O'Donnell says 'ching-chong' on The View, the jews and asians are up in arms demanding public apologies and even financial restitutions, but people who are true bigots and anti-gays are not only getting away with it, but being celebrated for standing up for their own beliefs? Granted, this is America, we have freedom of speech, but there are limitations to what is decent and acceptable. And even though you have the right to say what you want, if you say the wrong thing, you're going to get your ass kicked. If a white man walked down the street with a bullhorn claiming "all blacks should be hanging from the nearest tree", he's going to get shot. If a blonde bimbo stands up and says gays are inferior human beings, half the country agrees with her and applauds her.

I often say that gay is the new black. Granted we are not enslaved and picking cotton, but drawn to scale, in the progress that we've made in this country since slavery (hey, there's a black guy in the white house) the process of discrimination has only become more civilized. "You still don't get equal rights but we promise not to tie you up and whip you", (which still happens to gays in some states). In all but two states we don't have the right to marry. In the majority of states, we don't have the right to adopt. In many states, you can lose your job if your employer finds out you're gay (but they'll find another reason to fire you so you can't sue).

When will discrimination be wrong for everyone? Sorry Miss California, you missed the point of America, and you cannot be Miss USA. You refused to compromise your beliefs and you gave up your dream for your own hatred.