Hi everyone So, I've been having a lot of people tell me 'You live in the Bible Belt...what did you expect?' whenever I talk to people about receiving flack for being a lesbian. In a way, they have a point, but it astonishes me that that is a valid excuse in this day and age. Within the past few weeks, I've had a church tell me that they want their church to be promoted as a LGBT-inclusive area but aren't willing to advocate or advertise as one for fear of anti-gay groups, like Westboro, striking out against them and their families. I've had my hairdresser refuse to cut my hair ever since she found out I was gay. My dad has been told that he's letting me down as a parent because he supports me being gay. Apparently he was told this so much, he began to believe it and had to ask me how I felt about him being supportive. And yet, when I mention these things to people who say that gay people are just making up issues, all I hear is 'Well, you live in the Bible Belt...what did you expect?' To be honest, I'm not sure how to answer them. What do you guys think?
You are an Island of Good in a sea of Hatred. Honestly I think the US is full of idiocy, I know every country is but the US breaks past those barriers and ventures into a whole new range of stupid. Allow me to explain. In the UK we have long since given up on the ideas that the US still holds onto, Freedom of speech for instance. In the UK I can go and scream stuff outside the Houses of Parliment about the government and thats ok, However if a religious group or any other group went and started protesting being gay they would be arrested for inciting homophobic hatred. If your WBC came to the UK they would be arrested and locked away. Yes in the UK we still have our fair share of biggots who would assault you if they find out you are gay, however over here you would be hard streached to live somewhere like the Bible belt. Our Government are so terrified of appearing Racist or Homophobic that they are very careful to stamp out that kind of thing quickly when it arrises. The British press love a good Homophobic government story. It is your governments ideology that stops me from wanting to live in the US. I apologise as this isnt intended to be a poke at you personally and that isnt how it sounds in some places. I really do sympathise with your situation. Its just that as a Brit I feel like a parent who is watching his child ruin its chances by making all the wrong decisions. Why couldnt you be more like Canada? ---------- Post added 2nd Sep 2014 at 12:59 PM ---------- I just learnt that WBC members are banned from entering the UK
^^ the WBC were actually banned from entering the UK because they intended to incite hatred. Their shit doesn't fly anywhere in the civilised world, but the US can't kick them out of their own country, lol.
You live in a place where oppression is common. This can't be denied. But why on earth should you treat injustice as commonplace, instead of challenging and eradicating it? You don't deserve these things, and they aren't unchangeable. Many of the individuals themselves won't listen, but society as a whole will improve.
Bigotry has no excuses. I get the same sometimes because I live in a small town. It's not just as simple as moving to the city. Some people just aren't city people.
OmittedFlunky: No offense taken Honestly, I'd rather live in the UK than in America. For one thing, the TV shows that you guys have would be easier to find lol The fact that Westboro is banned from there just makes the idea sound even better Hexagon: That's how I feel about it. I mean, I understand that I'm in a bad area for gay people, but the indifference to this kind of behavior is just very surreal to me. I just hope that things change here in the US for the better I must admit though that I really miss my hairdresser. She was able to do an amazing razor cut...I look quite shaggy without her. WooEEE: Sadly enough, I live in a large city. It just isn't very inclusive
Next time they bring up 'the Bible Belt', you say, "Well, why don't they take that belt off, and hang themselves with it?"
"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people." -- Martin Luther King Jr. Speak up.
I expect decency wherever I go. A person's sexuality should not influence how they are being treated, especially in a business open to the public.