What a difference 12 years can make – a heartfelt thank you to those who helped us change the hearts and minds of the American people on gay issues

Dear right-wing sanctimonious frauds and crazies:

Thank you for all the bizarre, cruel, gross, ugly, despicable, and untrue things you said about my son and everyone else who did not fit your teensy, weensy template for normal. Thank you for being so rabidly over-the-top with your hatred whenever any discussion about gays, lesbians, and transgender issues came up that people would involuntarily recoil every time you opened your mouths. Thank you for constantly trying to legislate your hatred and bigotry into laws that would strip the lgbt community of all rights, protections, and dignity if they dared to love someone you did not approve of. Thank you for dedicating your entire careers to making the lives of lgbt people as miserable as you could while ignoring the rampant poverty, hunger, and war making that was going on right under your pious noses. And thank you, thank you, thank you for doing it all under the guise of being good “Christians”.  As a result of all your heinous lies and anti-Christian behavior, you've managed to repulse more people than you've won over, but don't worry, you've won this mama's eternal and heartfelt thanks.



A little background:

In 2003 my husband and I found out one of our 2 sons was gay. It was a horrible time to find out something like this. “Good Christian” President George W. Bush was running for re-election and his evil “brain”, Karl Rove, decided that using a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage would be a great way to whip up the base. He was brilliant that way - you know? Never had I ever imagined that so many rabid, hateful, horrible ant-gay people who call themselves “Christians” existed. I was flabbergasted at the angry hornets’ nest they stirred to life – and even more stunned that it was done on purpose.  It made our new reality, a gay son, exponentially more painful and scary. We simply could not believe that a sitting President of the United States of America could single out a whole segment of law-abiding American citizens and use them as pawns for his political gain. The hatred spewing all over the place was shocking – and devastating for any parent just finding out that their child was the target of all this venom.

And so it began for me … the obsessing, the raging, the ranting, the bitter tears, the fear, the anguish. I worried myself sick about what my son would have to deal with his entire life. NEVER, did I expect that in 12 years I would owe a whole lot of crazy, despicable fake Christians a great big thank you. I could have spared myself so much misery if I had been wise enough to realize that all I really needed to do during those 12 years was pop some popcorn and watch the right-wing Christian freak show do all the heavy lifting for those of us who believed in the rights and dignities of ALL God’s children. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that the anti-gay hate machine would become the best, most efficient tool in our fight. It certainly wasn’t pleasant or easy to watch, and most of the time it was quite painful, especially for the young, vulnerable glbt kids who were forced to listen that evil, mean drivel, but in the end the outcome could not be better. We are certainly not there yet, but I am counting on the Duggars, the Huckabees, and all of today's whack-job hypocrites and sanctimonious frauds (and even yesterday's hypocrites are gifts that keep on giving as well - Denny Hastert - I'm speaking to you, dear) to carry us over the finish line. I'd say they are doing a phenomenal job carrying that torch so far.

Lesson learned:

Who knew that when it comes to changing the hearts and minds of the American people all you need to do is expose them to a steady diet of hate and ugly lies under the guise of “Christianity”? What I failed to take into consideration during all the ugliness of the past 12 years (and much, much farther back for most people fighting this fight) is that most people are truly fair and kind. They just got drowned out by the loud-mouth god-botherers like James Dobson, Pat Robertson, dead Jerry Falwell, Rick Santorum, Karl Rove, Pope Benedict, Maggie Gallagher, Tony Perkins, Bryan Fischer, Michele Bachmann, Ted Haggard, George Rekers, Roy Moore, Larry Craig, Rick Warren, the Westboro Baptist Church and way too many others to even list. But to all of them, old and new, please accept my heartfelt gratitude for helping to change people’s hearts and minds on gay issues. I think most would call it a sea-change in opinion. You Heathens Rock!

Gee, you guys and gals really helped me see how God works in mysterious ways. I don't think that was your planned outcome, but a big fat wet kiss to y'all anyway.

Pop an acid blocker - and prepare for blasts from the past (and present too):