Monday, December 3, 2012

Gay Pride, A Father's Pride, Just Pride

I was kind of stunned to see the image below on Facebook this morning.


Then, I went into the comments and saw what my son, Nicholas, had written in response to it:

 "How come nobody asked me what I want?..." It's clear to me that no one who was involved in the creation of this BS site ever bothered to ask children of gay parents how we feel about it. Well, even though you scrupulously avoided asking (because you knew you probably wouldn't like the answer, and it certainly wouldn't be useful to this campaign of slander), let me tell you, as the son of a gay man. My father is a remarkable man, he's an accomplished artist, he was a caring and involved father and mentor, and I love him. Therefore, I'm glad he was lucky enough to find love and happiness with someone who loves him back and appreciates him. I certainly don't care what that someone has between his legs; that's your PRURIENT AND WHOLLY INAPPROPRIATE CONCERN, and I really wish you'd stop putting it on people like me. You already claim to speak for gay people ("It's a choice," "Every gay relationship is dysfunctional," "No gay person can really be a Christian," etc) is that not enough? Do you need to appropriate the speech of their children too?

His response moved me to tears. Not only did my son demonstrate love and courage, he also demonstrated a willingness to speak out against bigotry and hate. I posted his response on my own Facebook page.

BUT THAT'S NOT THE END OF THE STORY.

Shortly after my post on Facebook went up, someone commented on my page, wondering where my son's post had gone; seemingly, it had disappeared. I looked and sure enough, it was gone. Then I saw this reply from Nicholas on my Facebook page, regarding the whereabouts of his comment:

They deleted my post and banned me from ever posting there again; it took all of an hour. That's why no one asked that kid what he wanted; actual concern for the experiences of the children of gay people might get in the way of using "concern" for us against gay couples.

What kind of example does this set? My son did not write a hate screed; he was not disprespectful. He simply told his truth as he knows it. I wonder why Heterosexual Awareness Month (who ever heard of such a ridiculous concept? What's next? White Awareness Month?) can't take hearing from the actual child of someone who knows first-hand what it's like to have a gay father?

I seldom ask for action, but I hope you'll consider cutting and pasting this blog (attributing it back to this URL, of course) or Tweeting about it and doing a Facebook status update. These lunatics need to be exposed for their hatred, which is really, very sad. I also encourage you to bombard them with comments on their page, shaming them. I wanted to say ask Facebook to remove them on the grounds of hate speech, but as a champion of free speech, I can't do that. Here's the URL to the Heterosexual Awareness Page: http://www.facebook.com/HeteroAwarenessMonth

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18 comments:

  1. This is so messed up.

    I can't even... >.<

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rick,
    Would you mind if I linked this blog post to my uni's LGBT+ officer? He might be able to get the word out there through his facebook page and other networks? We DO need to do something about this, it's horrible and actually makes me really sad. (There are not many days when I feel ashamed of being straight)

    Your son is a wonderful man and I admire his courage, strength and determination.

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  3. Just wrote to FB and complained, asked them to delete the National Heterosexual Awareness page and restore your son's page/comment.

    Best,
    Laury A. Egan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi, Rick,

    I've actually tried to bring this page to FB's attention before. Believe it or not, FB doesn't think this qualifies as hate speech, despite the page's official content or the comments posted.

    Chris

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  5. It doesn't take much of an eye to see the "cartoon" is made of 2 juxtaposed images. A little thought will make you realize that you can't find a "real" photo of a 2-dad family where the men are completely involved in each other and ignoring the child.

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  6. I posted this at my blog ( http://nikolaos-thiwerspoon.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/the-christaliban-strike-again.html ) Not sure I expressed my anger quite strongly enough!

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  7. My friend Dianne Thies showed me your blog. You must be very proud of Nicholas!

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  8. put the link to your blog on my fb
    Your son is one amazing guy proofs how good of a father you are!

    If i go to look on that site if makes me ashamed to be straight :(
    how horrible and ignorant and sad people speak there

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I said the same thing on their site just now... It does make me ashamed to see how ignorant people are. Here is what I posted...

      What the??.... I'm so straight, I can't bend over, but this page offends me! Really?? Seriously?? Is this a joke?? Wow, just wow. Get OFF your high horse!

      Delete
  9. I heart your son & you who had a hand in forming that amazing person. I went to that page & while FB may say they don't post hateful stuff, they surely incite it. The many comments on various posts were sickening. A huge step backwards.

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  10. I did a post at my blog on this (at http://hunteratrandom.blogspot.com/2012/12/heterosexual-awareness-month.html), and will link to it from my LiveJournal page. Good story, and, alas, all too typical of the anti-gay right.

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    Replies
    1. I'm definitely posting about this on my site tomorrow. I can't believe this group would try to stifle the voices of those who don't agree with their hate speech.

      Delete
  11. I posted a comment, let's see if they ban me...........

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  12. Here is the responses to my post on their page...

    https://www.facebook.com/HeteroAwarenessMonth/posts/432242406831696?comment_id=4677590&notif_t=feed_comment

    Please follow the link... I get more mad as the post goes on.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Absolutely disgraceful content on that FB page.

    You must be as proud of Nicolas as he is of you.

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  14. Ugh. I made the mistake of going back and reading some more posts. That is some sick shit.

    Also, I must be living under a rock, as I've never once been bullied by the gay community, or made to feel ashamed about being straight. Apparently I need to get out more.

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  15. Congratulations on having such a wonderful son! You've got every reason to be very proud of him.

    The pic is not only a montage, those morons at that FB couldn't even find something with a real couple. The two guys are fictional characters from a German daytime soap and the picture is a still from their absolutely wonderful wedding episode. In case anybody's interested, here is a video with English subtitles:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_f_5PNOIIM

    ReplyDelete

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