MY TURN: Anti Pride = Pro hate
What a beautiful celebration for our LGBTQ community last week in the City Park. Coming together to celebrate our differences always creates so much joy and unity within our community. Our differences do not make us weak. They make us stronger. Unfortunately, that is not the opinion of a few bad apples in our community who chose to go out of their way to express their disdain for people who are not carbon copies of themselves. When you go out of your way to be “anti-pride” you are actually being pro-hate.
Pride was started as a protest against hate. Pride exists to show everyone that it is OK to be yourself and not judge others. I know that growing up gay in North Idaho is not easy. You worry that your family will not love you, or your friends will not support you, or a stranger will try to incite a confrontation. I remember wanting to be brave to myself and to other closeted kids in school, so I chose to go to my prom with my boyfriend (CHS class of 2000, go Vikings!) My mother was actually worried about my physical safety because I chose to attend my own prom. No one should ever have to worry about being attacked, especially a kid. Thankfully, my family are true Christians with hearts full of love who continue to choose to be good people. Unlike the letter from Cheryl Teague dictating from her purely narrow heterosexual perspective that I have a mental illness. The only mental illness I have, Cheryl, is empathy.
This is why we celebrate Pride, to combat this type of hate openly shared by a minority of our population onto a group of people who are just being themselves. I promise to anyone reading this; this hate does not reflect the majority of our community. I do urge the majority of our community, who want peace and freedom, and more time on the lake, that by not speaking up to this bigoted hate, then this division will only grow within the community and result in more concerns of safety. You do not have to be part of a group to stand up for them. Being an ally is the best thing you can do to make our community a safer and happier place.
An easy way to gain power over a group of people (whether that is for power and/or monetary gain) is to unite them against a common enemy. An easy target has often been the LGBTQ community. This marginalized community routinely faces discrimination and violence within their daily existence. These people want nothing more than to live happy and healthy lives with their loved ones, just like you and me. This is where we have more in common than anyone waving a book or holding a rally would want you to know. Beating down a minority group creates a polarizing distraction from their continued gutting of the middle-class all to reward themselves and their fellow “elite” with additional tax breaks and protection from the consequences of their actions. When did we allow the rich to tell the middle class that the marginalized minority is the problem? They are not.
Whatever “Christian” leader (like Jason Murray of Candlelight “Christian” Fellowship) or hat-wearing politician telling you to go out and hate other people because they are different than you is wrong. Being gay or trans is not any more a “lifestyle” than having red hair or being 5-foot-8 in height. Did you hear that, Cheryl Dougan? I can assure you that no one chooses to be gay. No one chooses to be different and walk a path known to be more difficult and that faces more judgment from ignorant strangers. I actively tried to be straight during my adolescence years; I was active in church, I played sports, I had a girlfriend. I don’t know how much louder I can say this: Your sexuality is not something within your control. What you can choose is to be a hateful-hearted mouthpiece of ignorance, or you can help create a city where everyone lives in safety and is kind to each other. Your choice.
Unlike the blinded opinion of Kevin and Ronda Detmers, the downfall of a city is not being inclusive, but demanding conformity and sowing division will erase all forms of beauty that God has created. Fortunately, we live in the United States of America that prides itself on being the “land of the free.” Where you can be yourself, worship at whichever church you wish and love who you want to build a life with. We live in a country where you are free to be Christian. This also means that respecting others and their lives is part of that pact of freedom. Passing laws to push your religious views onto others is the undoing of everything this great country was founded upon. If you want to live in a country where everyone has the same religion and customs as you — that is NOT FREEDOM. That is the epitome of being un-American, a traitor to our Constitution.
Rule of thumb: When your “Christian” values run parallel to Patriot Front, White Supremacists and Nazis, you might want to rethink your choices, because choosing to disrespect other human life is the only real mental illness we should be talking about.
Happy Pride. Be kind. It costs nothing.
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Jacob Muehlhausen is a Coeur d' Alene resident.