A Nation In Jeopardy

My husband and I just returned from Iceland — what a sad return. While away from the United States, we tried to be unplugged regarding the ever hastening downward spiral of the American government under Trump. Sadly, we could not escape, as the whole world is watching this “reality show” — this buffoonery. What is profoundly sad is that it is not a reality show. Our journey to another country, visiting with some really lovely people from around the world, only confirmed what I already knew. We are now being led by a fascist government that denies climate change and dismantles every agency created to aid people living in this country — which is further normalizing homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, anti-Semitism, and racism. We are a nation in jeopardy and the whole world is watching our decline.

The first week away we learned that Trump was threatening North Korea. His threats were so scary that the quite undignified Rex Tillerson had to make public statements to assure people not to panic, which was met by Trump declaring his threats “did not go far enough.” A few days later Trump’s defense of Nazis on August 12 and the refusal of nefarious sycophant Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell to censure the President provide a very clear indication that the government of the United States certainly holds a Nazi/White Supremacist world view. I feel the need to note here that the United Nations officially condemned Trump’s response to the white terrorism in Charlottesville.

Trump’s white supremacist defense did not go unnoticed by the global community we were traveling with in Iceland. One of our tour guides, a native Icelander, talked with us over lunch. He casually said: “It seems like your country has some real problems with racism and gay people.” All we could say was, “Yes, yes we do.” I know my face was one of despair and I was grateful that Hilmar felt comfortable talking about politics with us. This government has turned all rational U.S. citizens into ambassadors for the best of our country.

One of the families we were traveling with, and became friends with, was a family from Washington, DC, who came to the U.S. from southeast Asia. Their son attends Virginia Tech. They told us stories of how their son has been repeatedly harassed by police because of the color of his skin. Those personal stories painfully echoed the news from Charlottesville.

It has been particularly alarming to see the Nazi swastikas appearing all over the nation. Trump has blamed the media — his “fake news” — for dividing the nation. I fear I have lost all respect for anyone who believes this horrific lie. Sadly, regardless of how many lies Trump delivers, his base of support will not be swayed. Even more disturbing is that the beliefs held by Nazis are being subscribed to by an increasing population in the United States: it is about to reach double digits.

As if to bring all of this home to us, upon returning to the United States we were met with great hostility and homophobia as we tried to go through Customs. There are signs that let people know you are to go through Customs as a family. My husband and I approached the agent as a family. US Customs Agent Lee looked at us with a look on his face as though he just smelled something painfully acrid. (I imagine he caught a whiff of his own noxious odor.) After a few minutes of silence and us just standing there, Customs Agent Lee (yes, I am using his real last name) pointed a finger at us and said: “So the two of you men live together?” At this point, I had to try very hard not to lose my temper and call this homophobic piece of hell out.

I was painfully aware that he had great power and could refuse our re-entry into the United States, so I kept silent and just affirmed that yes, my husband and I live together. All I could think about was: “Well, we are certainly living in Trump’s America.  Surely, we must be better than this?” My husband and I are U.S. citizens, returning from a vacation. Imagine how people like Agent Lee abuse their power to oppress and reject immigrants, refugees, and other targeted communities!

Sadly, the hits keep coming. Trump’s latest Klan rally in Phoenix included more threats to muzzle the free press. He defended career racist and convicted racial profiler Joe Arpaio, hinting that he would pardon him. He demands that Congress fund his racist boondoggle of a wall, threatening to shut down the whole government if he doesn’t get his way. And still Congressional leaders support him. Paul Ryan refuses to censure Trump’s nasty words in the name of “unity” — this from a man who promised four years of pointless investigations if he had to serve under President Hillary Clinton. For all that the press love to talk about the war between Trump and McConnell, Sen. Turtle continues to make mealy-mouthed assurances about a “shared agenda.” How nice that he wants to share an agenda of hate.

This strife resonates with me every day. I am the Executive Director of EqualityWorks, NW, an agency that works towards global equity for targeted communities. Never have I seen the need for the work I do to be so vital and intense. As the director, I want to invite people struggling to take action and resist this administration and to reflect on how power works, specifically white,male, heteronormative, “Christian”, patriarchal power. Take action and create space for the voices of targeted communities.

I also want to emphatically disavow the hate and venom being spewed by Trump, Pence, Ryan, McConnell, Sessions, and all of those refusing to put this administration in check. I invite us all to resist and to also try to tap into our shared humanity, albeit our shared humanity does not appear very humane at present.

Bigot of the Week Award: August 17, State Representative Andy Gipson (MS)

Bigot of the Week

Thank you to my friend Chris Wilson for inspiring me to write this article.  This was a very difficult article to compose, for it terrifies me and reminds me that people who have no sense of history are dangerous and scare me personally. Andy Gipson, Republican Mississippi State Representative posted on his Facebook page that  gays should be put to death, as he quotes from the bible:

If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

In an email exchange over this post with UnityMS, he firms up his position:

To be clear, I want the world to know that I do not, cannot, and will not apologize for the inspired truth of God’s Word. It is one thing that will never “change.”

Ordinarily I try to leaven these awards with some wit, to point out hypocrisy (like cherry-picking your verses from Leviticus) and skewer idiocy and mendacity with sharp contrasts. This particular bigot filled me with such rage and sorrow that I had to walk away from my keyboard while contemplating what to say. This man, elected to serve all his constituents, wishes death on a whole population to satisfy his narrow faith. That’s the simple truth of it. That simple truth makes him a bigot and makes him an easy winner of this week’s award. How can I not take this personally? This bigot and pathetic man has said he wishes me and my husband dead just because we are gay.  Who would Jesus hate?

Gipson would also win the Coward of the Week, clearly lacking the courage of his convictions. When the story broke nationally, he simply took down his Facebook page rather than stand behind his beliefs. When the Huffington Post rightly observed that he clearly advocated murder, he posted a weaselly non-retraction, trying to rationalize away the impact of his white-hot hate. Using that passage from Leviticus to call out perceived sin also identifies a punishment and implicitly approves of it. This kind of behavior is why the Family Research Council is labelled a hate group, whether they approve of the label or not. This kind of thinking put millions into death camps seventy years ago.

Gipson called for the execution of people based solely on an aspect of their humanity. This kind of declaration is unacceptable in a public servant and should be rewarded with the loss of office.  So Mr. Gipson, who will be next on your target list of those you think should die? Who appointed you to a position of who gets to live and die?  I only pray that you are not allowed any children and that your venom does not cause another teen suicide. May you deal with your internal demons and I will try to feel sorry for you, rather than be full of rage at your behavior.

Bigot of the Week Award: June 1, Pastor Curtis Knapp

Bigot of the Week

This past month certainly has assembled a Preacher’s Hall of Shame! Two came from North Carolina. First we had Sean Harris telling parents to break their sons’ wrists if they got “too limp.” Then the vile Charles Worley endorsed death camps for LGBT Americans, much to the delight of his congregation. Now we have Pastor Curtis Knapp (of Kansas, for a change) taking things to their horrific “final solution”. He wants the government to put gays and lesbians to death.

They should be put to death. That’s what happened in Israel. That’s why homosexuality wouldn’t have grown in Israel. It tends to limit conversions. It tends to limit people coming out of the closet.

REALLY? And the far right says that all they want is to maintain their religious freedom? Big Ole Closet Queen Knapp clearly demonstrates that the agenda is as despicable as it gets. Just to prove he meant it, he doubled down on the hate in an interview with CNN.

We punish pedophilia. We punish incest. We punish polygamy and various things. It’s only homosexuality that is lifted out as an exemption.

As crazy icing on his crapcake, he also said that George W. Bush, the man who campaigned on marriage inequality, was “too tolerant” of LGBT Americans. This is a dangerous, scary man.  Who will be next on Knapp’s hate list and sentenced off to the death camps?

Bigot of the Week Award: May 25, Pastor Charles Worley and his Congregation

Bigot of the Week

Thank you to my friend Brad Fairchild for inspiring me to write this article.

This week’s bigot is a fine, upstanding example of what christian charity does NOT look like. Pastor Charles Worley of the Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, NC, went on a rant in his sermon on May 13. Blasting President Obama for his support of marriage equality (I wonder how he voted on Amendment One…), Worley went one toxic step further.

I figured a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers. Build a great, big, large fence — 150 or 100 mile long — put all the lesbians in there… Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out… And you know what, in a few years, they’ll die.

Setting aside both compassion and logic, Worley ignores the scientific fact that people are born gay and the practical fact that HETEROSEXUALS keep on popping them out. Not satisfied with calling for a death camp, Worley went on to call the President a “baby killer” and “homosexual lover.” He wrapped up his sermon (which you can see here if you can stomach it) with

God have mercy. It makes me pukin’ sick to think about — I don’t even know whether or not to say this in the pulpit — can you imagine kissing some man?

REALLY? How loving and KKKristian of you. Just how often DO you imagine kissing some man, Pastor? It turns out that Worley has been preaching this way for decades, including a recently surfaced sermon from 1978 in which he advocates lynching for gays and lesbians. Sadly, his congregation peppered his hate speech with “amens.” When interviewed by a local news station, many of them supported his words as “God’s Love.”  While I’m always hesitant to compare folk to Nazis, Pastor Worley is clearly a Nazi with his proposal to set up a death camp for the LGBT community.  I feel very sorry for Worley and his followers–that is some serious bad karma! Is anyone else singing this tune?