I was drawn to a recent news article about homosexuality in Zimbabwe.  If you would like to read the story click here, but for time’s sake I’ll recap: a man leaves his phone with some acquaintances who work at a mobile phone store so his phone can charge.  One of the men goes through the phone and finds pictures of the man embracing another man in bed.  The man reports this to the government as homosexuality is against the law.  The man was arrested, and charges are pending.

I think it goes without saying that it’s inhumane for something like this to be happening in our world.  It’s absolutely horrifying that people are thrown in jail for something that cannot be changed, much like one’s eye color or hair color.  And yet it got me to thinking, what exactly are homophobes fighting for?  What is their end game?

If you were to ask a staunch Republican (assuming they are against marriage equality), what they think about gay marriage, we know they are against it.  But what if we ask them if they are against homosexuality as a whole?  What if they attack homosexuals, both married and unmarried alike?  What will they want?

Noted presidential-candidate-turned-laughing-stock Rick Santorum has stated that he is not against gay people, just against homosexual acts and has stated his support for laws pertaining to Sodomy.  In simple terms, he doesn’t think you should have a right to shove a dick up your ass.  Not only do I think it’s funny because there are plenty of straight men who enjoy a little ass play, I think it’s hilarious that they seem to only be attacking gay men.  As a gay man I may not fully understand the sexual relationship lesbians have, I’m fairly certain to define it as “sodomy” is completely wrong.  I think the sexism on top of the homophobia is particularly despicable, but I better get back on track here.  Rick Santorum was a proponent of legislation that would make it criminal for two men to have sex.

Is that what others want?  To make gay sex illegal?  To throw them in prison?  If the stereotype is right, I’m fairly certain that’s exactly what they shouldn’t want (or they will at least need to provide soap dispensers to avoid that awful accident of dropping the bar of soap…).  Kidding aside, what’s the punishment going to be?  Throw Neil Patrick Harris into prison because he has a husband and two kids?  Fine Anderson Cooper $50,000 every time he bangs his boyfriend?  Shut down television shows like Shameless, Glee, and so on because they have depicted various points of two men having sex?  Do you see where I’m going with this?  

We are facing what is quite possibly the greatest political joke in this country’s history: while there is legislation clearly stating the separation of church and state AND a constitutional amendment providing religious freedom, it is the religious beliefs of many Americans that prevent gay couples from getting married, prevent gay couples from providing a family for parent-less children, allow individuals to be fired because of their sexual orientation, support the bullying of kids who are gay, and so on and so forth.  And if the homophobes had their way, homosexuals in America would be labeled second class citizens based on something they cannot change.

Most people who are against gay marriage simply don’t believe that same-sex couples should be able to be married, and aren’t necessarily for criminalizing homosexuality.  However, these same people are going to be the ones that spend today, July 4th, celebrating the fact that we are a “free” country… but we are not free.  When two consenting adults cannot get married, we are not a free country.  When two adults who have lived, loved, and laughed together for fifty years are unable to secure important medical and financial benefits because they are not “legally” a couple, we are not free.  When we have people attempting to instill their religious beliefs into our laws, stating it is their religious convictions that should determine whether or not I can get married, we are not free.

I don’t know what exactly might happen if a socially conservative republican administration is elected into the white house.  I’d like to think the Supreme Court would continue to protect LGBT rights as it has done so on several occasions in the past year, but quite frankly if Rick Santorum can come close to winning the Republican primary, I simply can’t predict with any certainty just how far the homophobic agenda can go.

And while I know this has been said numerous times, I’ll say it again for consistency’s sake.  It’s absolutely shocking that individuals against homosexuals are called “homophobic” when we’re the ones terrified of the social, fiscal, and legal repercussions of being gay.  When we are the ones fearful every day of facing the possible hatred spewed by those who do it in the name of their God that I’m not supposed to have to deal with.  

We are the ones who would be arrested, fined, and jailed in Zimbabwe for the simple act of falling in love.  And if the homophobes have their way, there’s some who would like to see that in our country, too.

I feel like sometimes I am living in a nightmare, because things this bad shouldn’t happen in the real world.

I am the epitome of the “born this way” mantra, that I was born a homosexual male.  I have never had sexual feelings towards a woman, I have never watched heterosexual pornography (besides a few curious, painful seconds).  I have known since a very young age I was different, and have always known I have only had sexual feelings for men.

When I see people like Rick Santorum say that gay people can change their sexuality, my brain has trouble processing that sort of statement.  How can a straight man say that I have chosen to be this way?  How can he openly state that I have chosen to complicate (and potentially destroy) my love life, my family life, my friendships, and so on and so forth, of my own free will?

I feel the anger begin to build; it does so as I write this, too.  There is a knot in my stomach that clenches my being in angst for our country, and our world.  There are over a hundred million gay people on this planet…  that is not a choice, and to say so is a mindbogglingly horrifying concept.  Every single gay person in this world, at some point or another, has faced a negative consequence as a result of something they were born with.  And they faced these negative consequences because of the bullshit world our political leaders continue to support.

We claim to be a land of the free, and yet I lack the freedom to marry.  Some want to give us “separate but equal” civil unions, which didn’t work out for the racial arguments sixty years ago… but that doesn’t ring any fucking bells with the conservatives, does it?  We claim to be the best country in the world and yet we have a man running for President that wants to openly and proudly subjugate a group of people based on something out of their control.  That is tyrannical and sounds horrifyingly similar to the Holocaust.  And if you think that sounds desperate, it is.  We should be desperate.

It’s not just the politicians, though.  There those who might not believe you’ve chosen it, but because it’s written in the Bible that homosexuality is an abomination, therefore you are going against God’s will and you going to hell.  These same people will disregard everything the Bible says about things like tattoos (not allowed), premarital sex (not allowed), shellfish (not allowed) and slavery (totally allowed), but yet can quote Leviticus like it’s the fucking Pledge of Allegiance.

My stomach churns.  How the fuck can you pick and choose from a 2,000 year old book with absolutely no proof as to it’s validity?  How the fuck can you pretend to speak on the behalf of your supposed creator that gay people deserve the ridicule you give them?  If God created you and I what the fuck makes you any better than me?  And what the fuck gives you the right to speak on his behalf?  The fact that I could probably find fifty million Americans who would side with the Bible is, in a word, astounding.

It doesn’t stop there.  As if disagreeing with homosexuality isn’t enough, people have the audacity to spread their beliefs onto their children.  Kids start calling people “gay” and “faggots” before they hit their teenage years.  Kids start beating up kids who come off as feminine because of the mere threat of homosexuality, even though femininity in a fucking ten year old is never a good indicator of sexual orientation.  By the time they hit their teens, many kids have already been dealing with abuse based on their sexual orientation for years.  They get bullied in class, in the hallways, on their way home, online, by text, by just about any communicable means there are.  Some parents, family, friends, and teachers all try to help, but the further south you go in this country, the less likely that is to happen.  Sometimes, the adults join in.

And people are fucking shocked these kids are killing themselves?  ”Oh, yes, suicide is bad, here’s a hotline you can call.”  No, fuckers, think about this.  These kids are ENDING THEIR EXISTENCE because they would rather NOT EXIST than deal with living another day.  These are our children, our supposed future - what does this say our future holds?

In the year 2000 I turned 11 years old.  I was in middle school.  I liked reading books like The Hardy Boys, I absolutely loved every show on Nickelodeon, and Brittany Spears and N’Sync were the newest additions to my CD collection.  I was terrified of the dark, thunderstorms, and dogs.  I turned 12 and headed towards the scary world of junior high.

Carl Walker never got a chance to turn 12 years old.  At just 11 years of age he hanged himself because of the anti-bullying he received.  He is just one of a slew of heavily publicized suicides over the last few years related to homophobic bullying.

My mind has trouble wrapping itself around this.  Kids like Carl Walker go from sitting at their dinner table to being dead.  Not existing.  Parents are without children, siblings are without brothers and sisters, bedrooms without occupants.  All because of something they were born with.  Something out of their control.  Treatment they received many times in the name of God.  Kids who were once friends are now memorial Facebook pages, a body in a buried box, and fading memories.  They never got the chance to grow up, to love, to live.

Fuck the kids who do this.  Fuck the parents who don’t control them, or worse still join in the hatred and pass it down to their kids.  Fuck the Christians who follow their holy book and only choose the parts about hating homosexuals, and not about working on Sundays.  Fuck Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul for all agreeing they would fight for a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Fuck you, republicans for not thinking about the lives you could save by preaching tolerance and acceptance.  Fuck you, politicians for trying to ruin my life and the lives of millions of other Americans because you think we’re trying to destroy families.  Preaching your hatred is what really destroys families.

We are failing as a human race.  In a society where we claim racism is terrible and women deserve equal rights, to openly and blatantly try and restrict the rights of homosexuals, a major population in this country, is the biggest fucking embarrassment I could try and conceive.  In a hundred years when we look back on how many people tried to restrict the rights of gay people we will be fucking humiliated.  Using the Bible over common sense is a fucking disgrace, and yes, I do judge people who try and say homosexuals don’t deserve equal rights.  To say so is goes against everything that every civil rights movement has gone against and yes, I think it does make someone a bad person.

A negative stance on gay rights is all I really need to tell if someone is a good person or bad person.  When someone openly states “gay people don’t deserve equal rights” I am judging you, you are an asshole, and I reserve the right to call you out on your bullshit.  Because kids are dying.  Kids.  If these so called Christians get to their supposed pearly gates when they die, what is going to be their ticket in?  ”I bullied a kid for being gay God!”  ”I fought to break up families and remove rights of my fellow Americans, God!”  ”A homosexual boy killed himself because of what I said to him, God!”

Some people say that these kids shouldn’t have killed themselves because suicide isn’t the right answer, and it’s not.  But I get it.  When society tells you to hide who you are and that you are not equal, I get it.  When parents tell their kids they are going to hell because they have chosen a bad life, or when kids get Facebook messages saying to kill themselves, I get it.  When the news shows countries across the world jailing or killing their citizens for being gay, I get it.  When our very own politicians take up the front page on the newspaper and proudly state they will fight to make sure gay people can never get married, I get it.  Our world is currently participating in one of the great human rights tragedies ever known, and so it shouldn’t be a surprise when people don’t want to live here anymore and be told on a daily basis they are not worth the air they breathe.  I get it.

There is one man who can change the world, and he’s sitting in the Oval Office.  He has to make a stand for his people.  He has to make a stand for human rights.  I will be voting for Obama because he is better than any Republican, but he can do better.  Openly supporting gay marriage, as the President of the free world, and the first U.S. President to do so while in office, has the potential to change the world.  This country spends millions upon millions of dollars every year on the gay marriage issue, hours and hours of time wasted, and to this day kids are still killing themselves.  When will it be enough?  How many kids have to die before we get that this isn’t a choice and we’re punishing people for the way they were born?

I can’t help but be furious.  My heart aches for those who have died, for those who will die that I can’t help, and for those who will suffer abuse for their sexuality day in and day out.  I am enthralled by those who fight against my right to marry, and some days I do wish harm to come upon them.  Yes, I sometimes wish this, because I want them to realize how fragile and precious life can be, and that they’re spending their lives trying to ruin mine and millions of others.  I want them to see the harm they do.  Sometimes it feels like the only way is if they experience harm themselves.

But we are the good guys.  We protest trying to show our love, we try to start families and find our soul mates, we try to live our lives.  The straight homophobes, meanwhile, give sermons about the problems of homosexuality, spread their hatred to others, bully those who are different, try to revoke our rights, and try to say we aren’t equal.  They try so hard to break our spirit.

And here I sit, in this little nightmare, wondering how this all could have happened.  Wondering when our “free” society thought it was okay to take rights, it was okay to bully, it was okay to force our ideas on others despite the science that says we are who we are.  This has to stop.  Because kids are dying.

And I want the nightmare to end.

As you probably know, there is a little excerpt in the Declaration of Independence that reads as follows: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” For those of you who aren’t entirely sure liberty simply means freedom, and in this context it means freedom from arbitrary governmental control, clearly inspired by the way the colonies were being treated by the mother country.

In what follows I will present to you the idea that Rick Santorum being elected as president would effectively end the right to liberty in this country and require the removal of the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, based on information he has provided regarding his positions surrounding homosexuality and homosexual marriage.

What We Know - Santorum’s Beliefs

Rick Santorum believes anal sex will ruin families. He believes that pedophilia in the priesthood is a basic homosexual relationship, and believes that gay marriage will lead to the legalization of bestiality. Santorum believes that there should be laws banning anal sex, and that there should be no right to privacy so this can be regulated. He believes that any homosexuals should abstain from having sex (source). If elected president, Rick Santorum would support a federal amendment that would ban gay marriage over the entire country.

In a 2003 interview, Rick Santorum implied homosexuality was not a choice. He said: “I have nothing, absolutely nothing against anyone who’s homosexual. If that’s their orientation, then I accept that. And I have no problem with someone who has other orientations” (source).  For his presidential campaign, however, he has stated many times that he believes homosexuality is in fact a choice, can be changed, and would want a woman or man who identifies as homosexual to only marry someone of the opposite gender (source).

Let’s Talk About Sex

Now that you know what he has stated, let’s begin to look at his argument more carefully. Though I never thought I’d have to prove this, but to equate pedophilia in the priesthood as a basic homosexual relationship is a poor comparison. The age of consent for sexual relationships in the United States ranges somewhere between the ages of 14 and 18, and averages out somewhere around 17. Because children cannot consent to sexual intercourse, they are not participating in a homosexual relationship: they are being raped. Worse still, to compare homosexuality to bestiality is also a miscalculation, as he assumes animals can consent to participate in sexual acts. If Mr. Santorum would like to make that comparison, he would also be inferring then that you should charge every dog who humps your leg with attempted rape, because we as humans would not be consenting to a sexual act.

Consent is the major issue with Santorum’s political stance. Two men over the age of consent in their state are allowed to have sex in their bedrooms because they both are legally entitled to the freedom of engaging in a sexual act (or sexual relationship). Doing this is an exercise in liberty, as we are using our personal freedom and control over our bodies to participate in an act that another consenting adult wants to participate in. Both adults have agreed to complete an act, the act is private and does not influence others, and no one is harmed in any way at the end of the completion of an act (albeit some may be a bit sore). Santorum’s position is that consent is not enough to be allowed to participate in a homosexual sexual relationship.

Santorum believes that male homosexual intercourse, which is considered sodomy (the penetration of the anus), should be made illegal. That would mean the U.S. government believes it is appropriate to revoke the consent of two adults, and limit the freedom to participate in an act that no one else is involved in, and no one is harmed by. That is a clear violation of liberty, which is what this country is founded on.

Marriage: Why Can’t Gays Be Miserable Too?

One of the cruxes of Santorum’s presidential campaign has been his extremely conservative social values, one of which being gay marriage. Santorum wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage between one man and one woman, preventing any gay couple in the U.S. to be legally married and immediately nullifying any gay marriage licence granted by individual states, states which already have extensively debated the legality of gay marriage and determined it is in the best interests of their states to allow gay marriage.

Consent is again the focal point of this matter. Two men or women (sorry ladies, you’re roped into this argument now too) would like to enter a legal contract stating their intention to be husband and husband or wife and wife until death do they part. Rick Santorum’s belief is that the U.S. government should intervene and state that they are not allowed to do so, and the U.S. government would have to find a valid reason to do so (if you’re thinking “religion”, hold that thought!). If we, for the moment, disregard the fact that the U.S. government will need a valid reason to ban gay marriage, we still see a major violation of liberty. Two individuals want to enter a contract stating that they are married has no direct effect on anyone else but these two consenting adults, and therefore there should be no government interference as it is a violation of liberty and the very principals this country was founded on.

Now, assuming Santorum stands solely against gay marriage and not against the idea that a gay couple can live together, we face another problem.  The reason marriage for gay couples is not simply a status symbol, but entitles them to important legal and financial benefits such as medical insurance, home ownership, property rights and other financial gains, and adoption. Some argue that gay people should be entitled to all of the same benefits except marriage, but it takes a single parallel to debunk that idea of equality: when was the last time we saw “separate but equal” as a legal issue in this country? That would be the segregation of black and white children into separate schools, an issue that caused a civil rights movement across the country. An issue that judges ruled in favor of total equality… fifty years ago.

And while we’re on the topic of race, if one is to argue that gay people cannot get married because they could not raise kids, try comprehending the fact that as many as 72% of African American children are born to unwed mothers (source). More than ever in the history of the United States, single parents are raising children, and I simply cannot believe it would be a disadvantage having two parents of the same sex rather than a single, unwed parent.

I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the fact that Rick Santorum suggests gay people should still enter heterosexual marriages. It is egregious to think that having a million gay people enter heterosexual marriages would protect the sanctity of marriage; it would turn it into the biggest social and political mockery this world has ever seen and would leave the rest of the world wondering what the hell has happened to this country. That implication further stresses that there is no reversing course on LGBT rights because it would be akin to telling Americans of African descent that it’s time they head back out to the cotton fields, or to tell women it’s time they gave up their jobs and head back into the kitchen forever. It just can’t happen.

I Have to Talk About Religion

Remember that religion thought you were holding? Well, we have to talk about it. Leviticus 18:22 of the Christian bible states that homosexuality is an abomination, and is the major crux of most opponents of marriage equality. If a federal ban on gay marriage is placed, it will end up at the U.S. supreme court, who will overturn it because there is no legal justification for a ban on homosexual marriage, and doing so violates both individual and states rights.

Rick has a plan for that. In a recent interview he expressed his position that religion should have a place in government (source). By doing so, this would allow the United States to add an amendment to the United States Constitution which would ban gay marriage based on the grounds that it is an abomination according to Christianity. If you didn’t realize it yet, that would also be a massive, massive breach of the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution which entitles religious freedom, and so clearly the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution would have to be removed because of the new stance on religion.

If you take a look back at the quote from the Declaration of Independence in the first paragraph, even the phrasing “their Creator” is nonspecific in it’s choice of religion and does not impose the soon-to-be country on any specific religion. Considering theories behind evolution were not the same in the 1700’s as they are today, it should not be a surprise that most people believed in some sort of God, and therefore “their Creator” was included. And to be specific, Mr. Santorum is a Christian and likely would not consider any other religions or their approaches to homosexuality, just his own. He would essentially attempt to choose a national religion for the people of the United States, allowing a religion that millions of people do not believe in to influence their lives.

So what?

Let me be clear. I don’t think Rick Santorum is going to win the election - I don’t think any Republican will. I think the majority of this country believes in human rights and human freedoms, and therefore will re-elect Barrack Obama in 2012. I don’t believe Rick Santorum would be able to institute religion into the government, nor do I believe that any Republican candidate will successfully be able to permanently ban gay marriage in this country.

Furthermore, I don’t believe this country will ever go (very far) backwards in the LGBT rights debate. As morbid as this may sound, a large percentage of homophobic people are older and as they begin dying out, the national position on gay rights should slowly but surely progress to the left. We may have to wait awhile, but I think equality for all is closer than we think. Keep fighting, keep spreading the love, and show people that being gay has absolutely nothing to do with the content of your character… except make you awesome.

The entire reason I’ve written this is to prove one thing: how batshit insane it is to believe in Rick Santorum. He is currently leading the race for the Republican nomination, which shows a serious, horrifying problem in this country. Millions of Americans will be voting in November, and millions of Americans could very well place support behind a man who wants to remove the first amendment rights of the people of this country.

I’m scared… not because of Rick Santorum, but because there are millions of people who actually believe this man is fit to lead this country. I’m scared to think just how many people would rather see me marry a woman in a loveless marriage rather than marry the man I love. I’m scared to think about how many people want to regulate what I do with my genitalia, and I’m scared to think about how many people would rather destroy the lives of beautiful families all because they care about where I stick my dick. I am scared that people are losing their ability to think logically, rationally, and with impartiality towards personal beliefs.

For that, I am scared.

1. Would you rather I marry your sister instead?

2. We should let the people decide on gay marriage?  National polls say 53% of the country favors gay marriage, and the United States doesn’t have a law allowing national referendums.  Can I get married now?

3. Do you think I want to be bulllied?  Called a faggot?  Lose relationships with friends and relatives for fun?

4. So it’s against the bible, huh?  Have you ever ate shellfish?  Worn a shirt made of a polyester/cotton blend?  Touched a football?  Gotten a tattoo?  Worked on a Sunday?  You have?  See you in hell!

5. Why are you so concerned about what I do in bed?  You’re not my type.

6. I can’t be a parent because my relationship doesn’t have a mom and dad?  What do I tell to the over 13 million single parent households in this country?

7. I’ll ruin the sanctity of marriage?  But what about the fact that Larry King has been married 8 times, Elizabeth Taylor was too, and Britney Spears’ marriage lasted 55 hours?  Or that the national divorce rate is around 50%?

8. So we get civil unions that are separate but equal?  How did segregated schools work out for us 50 years ago?

9. Gay marriage isn’t widely accepted?  What about the entire nations of Canada, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Iceland, Argentina, or Belgium?

10. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell?  Okay, how about you take my place?

11. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay?  Why hasn’t the dozen weddings I’ve been to made me straight?

12. Straight Marriage has been longstanding?  Then what happened to slavery or why do we allow women to vote?

13. Gay marriage makes you uncomfortable?  Your hairstyle makes me uncomfortable, so get out the scissors and lets get cutting?

14. I can’t get married because the government says I’m not equal?  Can I stop paying taxes then? 

15. Gay people haven’t been around for many years?  But people didn’t used to go much farther than the town they were born in?  And the Greek have records of homosexuality being quite normal and beautiful?  And there were less of us because they’re were less humans on Earth?  And why would we come out when the world was filled with hateful people like you?

16. Why can’t I get married and be as miserable as you clearly are?

17. Gay marriage should be illegal because it’s an abomination?  So you’re not a big fan of the separation of church and state or the first amendment, are you?

18. Wait, I can’t get married?  So this isn’t the land of the free?  Do you have a better motto for our country?

19. Gay families can’t have kids?  Can we ban infertile people and old people from getting married, too?  

20. What the FUCK is wrong with you?

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“When I am president, I will defend the Defense of Marriage Act and I will fight for an amendment to our constitution that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman.”

- Mitt Romney in his speech to CPAC, February 10th, 2012.

Mitt is becoming more right wing in an attempt to catch up to Santorum, who has quickly stolen most of his momentum.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you a man who will, in essence, set the LGBT rights movement back twenty years if elected President.

Any person who supports gay rights should vote Obama.  No matter what kind of job you think he is doing for this country, the only reason you need to vote for him is because he doesn’t attempt to take the rights away from his citizens.  That is absolutely the only justification you need.

Mitt Romney’s beliefs may not be as radical as Rick Santorum’s, but he will still fight to tell the world that gay people are second class citizens.  He will fight to tell the world that gay people are not welcome in America, that America is not the land of the free, and that being gay makes you less.  Less equal.  Less American.  Less human.

Fuck you, Mitt Romney.

1.  Would openly support bans on same sex marriage across the country if elected president, and likely consider proposing a national ban.

2.  Believes a Priest raping a boy is a “basic homosexual relationship”.

3.  Believes no society in history has considered homosexual marriage as acceptable.

4.  Compares same-sex marriage to marriage based on pedophilia, incest, and bestiality.

5.  Believes there should be laws banning sodomy (anal intercourse).

6.  Believes homosexual sex is a threat to families.

7.  Believes that there should be no right to privacy, thus allowing the government to make it illegal to have gay sex.

8.  Has suggested a child would do better having a father in prison than having two lesbian parents.

And tonight, Rick Santorum won the Minnesota and Missouri Republican primary, and looks like he could take Colorado.  He is one step closer to becoming the most powerful man in the world.  

Are you fucking kidding me, America?

Tim Tebow once did a commercial on behalf of Focus on the Family.

Focus on the Family is known for their anti gay views.  Focus on the Family believes that gay marriage is a threat against families.  They also believe it is the intention of gays to destroy the concept of family altogether.  Focus on the Family founder James Dobson has spoken at public forums encouraging people to vote against gay marriage. Focus on the Family also is against civil unions, and does not believe in any sort of legal unification between same sex individuals.

Many people argue “well, it’s not like he came outright and said he doesn’t agree with gay marriage”, and frankly that’s bullshit and a total cop out.  If you expect to use your celebrity status for other causes (the commercial was for pro life) and get paid for doing so, you are responsible for your actions.  It is not a secret that Focus on the Family is an anti-gay organization, and I will not let Tebow off the hook based on ignorance.  He is an informed adult and should understand that by doing work for an organization, he is thereby condoning their beliefs and actions as an entire entity.

No, I will not cheer for Tim Tebow.  No, I do not think he’s sexy, because working for an organization that does not want to see me get married one day makes him a very ugly person in my eyes.  No, I do not think he’s cute when he bows in the middle of a field, or do I think he deserves the ample camera time he gets (seriously, he’s not that great of a quarterback, either).

Tim Tebow is bad for the gay rights movement.  His fervent — and outspoken —religious beliefs encourage the very religious republican nomination candidates, such as Rick Santorum and Rick Perry, to continue their crusade against gay marriage on the back of Christianity.  I respect his right to believe in whatever he wants, but I do not believe it is appropriate to consistently pander his beliefs in such a public way.

Oh, and I think it’s a joke that he claims he will always love Jesus more than his future wife.  I think that speaks for itself.

I will not cheer for Tim Tebow, and I don’t think I should have to explain myself to every single person who guffaws at the idea I think he’s bad for this country and the gay rights movement.

Equality for all. 

Sundays, a good Christian goes to church.  They get up early and dress respectfully.  They see their fellow church members and sing hymns.  They get on their knees to pray, and donate money in the collection.  They may have brunch afterwards, or maybe even a small gathering or a picnic.

Sundays, I sleep in.  I get up a little before noon and wear my favorite pair of jogging pants.  I call some buddies over to watch football, and we shoot the shit.  We sit on our asses and occasionally bet money on the football games.  We order pizza and drink beer, and enjoy swearing at the T.V. in language that’s not suitable for people that are faint of heart.

A good Christian listens carefully to their religious leader.  They’re told how homosexuality is an abomination, that man shall not lie with man, and that they are going to hell.  They’re told how homosexuality is a choice, and that these men have succumbed to evil urges and that homosexuality is dangerous.  They bring their values home, where they learn to be homophobic without being at church; whether it’s a gay couple holding hands at the mall, or a gay couple on television. Their kids go to school the next day, then, and call all of the loser kids gay.  If a kid actually appears to be gay, they will talk about him - both behind his back and to his face.  They will have dinner like a perfect Christian family with perfect Christian values.

I, on the other hand, will enjoy the day with my friends.  We’ll watch football, play PlayStation and Super Nintendo, and maybe play some cards.  We’ll drink a little too much, eat a little too many snacks, and have a great day together.  Our team might win - or lose - but it’s all moot in the end, because the important part was spending an entire day with the ones we consider close.

I can’t be told that religion makes me a better person, or provides me guidance in life.  I see the cards out in front of me, I see these two options, and I pick the one that makes me a better person.  I don’t know how those on reverse sleep at night - I don’t know how they can reconcile trying to be a good person and letting an organization put hate into your heart.

I’m a Sunday Sinner, and I’m okay with that.  I’ll gladly take football with a side of beer over religious fervency with a side of hatred.

I can’t worship a book that tells me I am an abomination.

I can’t understand how people pray to a book that tells them they are going to hell because of how God made them.

I can’t understand how people follow a religion where many of the followers believe they choose their sexuality.

I can’t believe in a God that would create me knowing I would be going directly to hell.

I can’t handle how religion is the one thing standing between gays and equal rights.

I can’t dedicate my time and money to a church that doesn’t believe in me.

I can’t understand how people seem to pick and choose what parts of the bible they can quote - like saying gays are an abomination, but then forgetting that they can’t eat shellfish, work on the Sabbath, or get tattoos.

I can’t understand how the Pope can instantly influence a billion people and decide that it’s in the best interests of humanity to discriminate against gay people.

I can’t understand why a billion people listen to the Pope, either.

I can’t vote for any presidential candidate who commits themselves to a religious organization, lead a free country, and then take freedoms away from gay couples.

I can’t believe people kick the shit out of gay people and then call themselves good Christians. 

I can’t understand how people say God is all loving… except for Gay people.

I can’t comprehend being gay and going to Church.

I can’t pretend I understand Christianity anymore. 

I can’t.

Lisa Lampanelli, comedienne and notorious insult comic, will be on Celebrity Apprentice this season.  Her charity is Gay Men’s Health Crisis.  She may be crude, vulgar, and cross a million lines… but she cares deeply about the gay community.  When the Westboro Baptist Church protested one of her shows over her acceptance of the LGBT community she pledged to donate $1,000 for each protester to Gay Men’s Health Crisis.  44 showed up; she rounded up to $50,000.

Lisa Lampanelli will forever be a hero of mine because she doesn’t just talk the talk but rather she fearlessly walks the walk and doesn’t give a damn what people have to say to her about it.

That is using your celebrity for good.  Others could take note.