Many years ago, a Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, famously said: “The State has no place in the bedrooms of the nation.”
As most people know, marriage between two people of the same sex, has been recognised in Canada since 2005.
Same-sex marriage law passes 158-133
CBC News
The Liberals’ controversial same-sex marriage legislation has passed final reading in the House of Commons, sailing through in a 158-133 vote.
Supported by most members of the Liberals, the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP, the legislation passed easily, making Canada only the third country in the world, after the Netherlands and Belgium, to officially recognize same-sex marriage.
Vancouver, British Columbia hosts an official “Gay Games” and major cities hold Gay Pride Parades which are attended by thousands. Life in Canada has evolved, as the tourism industry rakes in the mega dollars generated by the “Gay Wedding” industry.
Life goes on with no discernible degeneration of public morality. Not so across America, it seems. Yes, in Canada we still do have hate crimes of gay bashing, which are prosecuted as such, but we have not seen the level of group madness/violence that is rearing its ugly head across the US.
Led by a group called “Bash Back,” this past weekend there were demonstrations nationwide in the US, protesting the legitimate democratic vote which was part of the recent US election. However, not content to make their point by peaceful protest, Bash Back is resorting to violence. The mainstream media covered a recent incident in Michigan that saw these rabble rousers attack a church worship service in progress.
According to their own site:
“The Mount Hope Church is a deplorable, anti-queer mega-church in Lansing, Michigan. Mt. Hope is complicit in the repression of queers in Michigan and beyond…”
And so on Sunday November 9th, about thirty radical queers from Lansing, Chicago, Memphis and Milwaukee disrupted the church’s most well-attended sermon.
At noon, a small group of folks dressed in pink and black, equipped with a megaphone, black flags, picket signs and an upside-down pink cross began demonstrating outside the church. The group was extremely loud and wildly offensive….
At the signal that the guards had been lured outside, the infiltrators sprang into action.
Is violence the ‘norm’?
The comments on their site in reaction to that effort, range from:
“Great Job!!! How wonderful to read about the action.” to “This is an inspirational action.”
They seem very proud of themselves, and I have to ask “why?”
If they really support the democratic process that saw Barack Obama elected, then they surely should respect the will of the people who voted to support the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. Attacking verbally, and physically, as quite a few reports have documented, religious houses of worship, does nothing to endear the Bash Back group to regular Americans. Throughout history, violent protests have achieved very little of the protesting groups’ goals. What HAS worked is working within the status quo, the judicial system, to enact change.
I also have to ask, if these people are so proud of themselves, why they feel the need to cover their faces. Just a thought.
Before any accuse me of homophobia, let me state clearly; Yes, I am a heterosexual, but yes, I would have been horrified at ANYONE protesting in such a violent manner.
At different stages in my life, I have worked alongside self declared gay folks. Honestly, anyone’s sexual preference is no business of mine, as long as I am not invited into their bedrooms. I have always maintained that within a regular day, at the office, or social events, etc, anyone’s sexuality is really irrelevant to me. In the same way as I don’t need any heterosexually specific intimate acts shoved in my face, neither do I need any homosexual agendas browbeaten into me.
What anyone does in the privacy of their bedrooms is no concern to me, as long as it is consensual. What does concern me greatly, is the absolute disrespect the Bash Back members show in a place of religious worship. As far as I can tell, nobody is insisting that these disappointed gays attend any church whose philosophy they disagree with. Nobody is demanding that gays approve of how others conduct their lives. .
As far as I can tell, gays, as well as heterosexuals, are just as free to practice the lifestyle of their choice. Statistics show that many heterosexuals forgo the church wedding to co-habit within a civil union. That option is available to gays. I am really puzzled as to why the gays would attack churches, and their congregations, when it is obvious they have such great disdain for the religious community. There are a few churches that I am sure many heterosexuals disagree with, but do we see them physically attacking such places? No, of course not. To me, this issue is a civil matter, not a religious issue, so why attack churches?
Needless to say, not everyone is thrilled with these counter-productive antics:
“I heard about this event on the radio and I was shocked it happened. And shocked there were no arrests…”
and:
“People, pay attention to the word “anarchist.” These are anarchist tactics, not gay tactics. The protesters should have stayed outside. Interrupting church services is deplorable, not to mention counter-productive…” [ more here: nbc25online.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=220613]
And from the LancingCityPulse:
“Bash Back doesn’t come across as very “tolerant.” Their tactics strike me as immature. They appeared to show no regard for children that were probably alarmed at all the commotion. This is America, people have the right to believe whatever the heck they want. The Bash Backers chose an inappropriate forum for protest….” [link: www.lansingcitypulse.com/lansing/article-2302-gay-anarchist-action-hits-church.html ]
I do find it ironic that these gays enjoy the freedoms to publicly protest within the American democracy, whereas their brothers and sisters in Iran, for instance, are treated as non-persons. If you recall, the Iranian President recently insisted that there are no homosexuals in Iran! We all know that for the lie it is. Gays in north America seem to be very short on the tolerance they are demanding from the rest of us.
If Bash Back, and their supporters, honestly believe that these bully tactics will do anything but turn supporters of democracy against them, they are wrong. Instead of wasting their energy in actions like this, that turn folks against their goals, I suggest they rethink their violent strategy.
I believe that if gay Americans really engaged, respectfully, with the legal system in America, they could make great gains in achieving their goals. Really, I do!
