Suddenly Embraced

I live in a rural area which means I'm surrounded by steaming piles of beetle fodder and this allows a heightened sense of smell and man is there a wretched odor permeating the comments of many politicians who have suddenly found a new love for the LGBT community. These commenters I speak of spend their political lives dedicated to denying gay people equal rights under the law.

They spent years fighting same-sex marriage until finally the clock ran out and a Supreme Court decision legalized it for the whole country. This victory has led to the retaliation of the biggots, haters, religious zealots and their political allies to go after the LGBT community through alternate means disguised as such things as religious freedom restoration acts designed to permit the expansion of LGBT discrimination. At no time has religious freedom in this country been threatened by the simple act of extending equal rights under the law to every citizen. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and restoration acts are not required. Now there are moves across the country to attack transgendered people concerning a problem that doesn't exist, namely what public restroom someone uses. These new laws are just another reason to justify discrimination and marginalization of our fellow citizens.

I could fill multiple pages with the names of the hypocrites who are using the massacre at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, for their own political agendas but I'll focus on two.

First up is Lyin' Donald Trump who has siezed upon this tragedy and as with everything he says, ignoring the facts. He says he is all for the gays. The truth is he opposes gay marriage and has repeatedly stated the U.S. Supreme Court made the wrong decision on this issue. He does not support the inclusion of LGBT citizens into our existing Civil Rights laws. It is reported that Donald Trump has many gay friends and he probably does. Just like Sarah Palin said she had gay friends back when she was running for Vice-president. Yes, the default position of those that refuse to recognize the truth and proudly say "look at my gay friends" as though they were a pet to be shown off. They claim them as friends but don't believe that they deserve the same rights as every heterosexual in the United States. What does that say about the character of a person who would be friends with a gay person but would not stand up for their right to live freely and protected under the laws of our country. Lyin' Donald Trump, we just can't trust him.

Number two and a suitable number it is, is the Reverend Pat Robertson. On Robertson's CBN channel they have been running stories on the Orlando tragedy tying it in with their own anti Islamic spin with Robertson himself chiming in pointing out how horrible Islam is in the way they treat gay people. Pat Robertson has spent a lifetime of preaching against gay people and in the strongest nastiest possible terms. He and his late hate buddy Reverend Jerry Falwell said that 9/11 happened because God was angry with the United States and had withdrawn his protection because of our embrace of homosexuality. That's right folks 9/11 was the fault of gay people, not the hatred of the Saudi terrorists who hijacked those planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center and Department of Defense killing nearly 4,000 Americans. Pat Robertson is beyond hypocritical. He is right about Islam's condemnation of homosexuality, so by the way does the majority of mainstream Christianity throughout the world. It is also true that in those Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia which are ruled by Sharia Law it is a crime, justified by religion, to be gay and the punishment is death by as hideous and painful a way they can think of. There are also far right Christian preachers in the U.S. and the world at large who call for the execution of homosexuals because it's what God wants, according to them. They always point out it's not what they are saying, it's what God commands and who are they to challenge God.

It is long past time for the United States Congress to take immediate action and include LGBT citizens in our Federal Civil Rights Laws. Gay rights have never been about "special" rights as it's opponents have always argued. It is about equal rights under the law. The ability to live openly, get married if they want to and not live in fear of being outed and fired from their jobs which is still legal to do in most States. If all of these political and religious figures who say they are standing with the LGBT community right now really want to prove it they should take action now to end discrimination and stop spreading hate through both their action and inaction.