Gay Teens and Suicide: Why the Warren Choice Matters
Shorter Stoller: By legitimizing the homophobic Warren, you legitimize the hatred that causes gay teens to commit suicide:
Gay kids learn that being gay is wrong, so they try to stop being attracted to the person of the same sex. And they fail. And they have horrible problems until they come to terms with their sexual identity. It’s no wonder that gay teens have higher suicide rates than straight teens.
Sexual identity is part of who you are. Period. Passing hate crimes and anti-discrimination statutes and civil unions laws and the like are not bad actions, but the leader of this country announcing that he does not believe that gay people should have the right to marry their life partner, but straight people do, is pretty awful. Saying so while preaching tolerance for bigots doesn’t actually change my mind on that point….
If the argument is that sacrificing the rights of another group on the altar of political power is a reasonable choice, then you should remember that a society that callously denies one group their humanity can just as easily deny you yours.
You might be saying “Brendan, why do you give a shit, you’re not gay.” But that’s not the point: I’m not black either and I despise racism. I’m not a woman, but I fight for reproductive freedom. I’m not an Iraqi, but I spoke out against the war.
It’s all about justice.
December 21st, 2008 at 2:10 am
[...] Brendan Calling » Blog Archive » Gay Teens and Suicide: Why the … [...]