"A Thought To Ponder..."

"Why are some Americans, people in the world, homophobic?" asks Henry Rollins.

He wants to know: "Why do they fear the gay? And why do they oppose, at least in America, so strongly, gay marriage, gay unions?" 

Wait, people are still homophobic?

I know. It's hard for a lot of us to understand why anyone would be opposed to everyone having equal rights — and even worse, hateful of those who are "different."

But it's a fact. LGBTQ people are still fighting for the right to marry in 13 states and for equal treatment in general everywhere.

Rollins' first answer to his own question is simple but poignant:

It makes sense that some members of the group in power fear losing it. But what power will straight people really lose if our gay friends and family members have the same rights we do? (Spoiler alert: none.)

And guess what? Gay marriage doesn't mean you have to get gay married!

I know. Duh.

But I think we need to keep talking about how ensuring that one group has equal rights does not make the dominant group do anything differently.

Let's all go "real hard" against homophobia, Henry Rollins style.

What the great Maya Angelou said about racial equality applies here as well. "Because equal rights, fair play, justice, are all like the air: We all have it or none of us has it. That is the truth of it."

*********

"Fear Eats the Soul"