Really?
I may be a gay male and sometimes boggled by the female mind (and perhaps occasionally insensitive to certain aspects of womanhood that I don't understand), but part of me also considers myself a feminist. I have been surrounded by strong, independent, intelligent women my entire life. My grandma, Eva Strecker, was a hearty, earthy woman who would wake up early, tend to a huge garden, do the washing, kill a chicken and fry it for dinner, all while smiling and telling stories. My mom followed in her mother in laws footsteps, teaching at a small school in Waldo, KS, taking over when Eva retired. When I was in junior high, my mom and dad both went back to college to get their masters degrees. My mom has always been an inspiration to me and continues to be to this day. My little sister, Adrienne, takes after her and has become the first person in our family to earn a degree in law, and is now a practicing attorney who just bought her own home, and she just turned 28.
Hopefully that may explain why I have a low tolerance for those "damsels in distress" or those who still seem stuck in 50's mindset of the male being the breadwinner and the woman taking care of the house. I never really lived that way; both my parents were equal in running the family, the home, and the finances.
But worse than that, are these three ladies who have really confounded me with their life choices. They are Maggie Gallagher, the president of the National Organization for Marriage; Elaine Donnelly, of the "Center for Military Preparedness"; and Shirley Phelps-Roper, the heir apparent to Fred Phelps' hate group known as the Westboro Baptist "Church."
Maggie Gallagher is a real piece of work. She's such a clearly unhappy and judgmental woman that there is no small amount of irony that she has positioned herself as the savior of what she calls "traditional marriage" - I mean, can you really imagine a male being in a happy marriage with her? She uses underhanded lies and trickery to scare people into voting to discriminate against people, but then likes to put on her sad face and pretend to be all offended when people call her out for what she is: a bigot. She claims that she is "respectful" of homosexuals and even uses the age old lie that "some of her friends are gay" but that she is just trying to save the institution of marriage, and likes to tell all sorts of tales about what could happen to the world if gays could marry. How it undermines "traditional" (or "opposite") marriage and how it will just eat away at the very fabric of society until we are all a bunch of deranged, perverted heathens. Of course in reality, the facts are that she is dead wrong. Massachusetts, the first state that legalized marriage equality back in 2004, has actually seen a decrease in their divorce rates since then. And ask any straight couple who isn't hampered by bigotry and religious brainwashing and they'll say the truth: a committed homosexual couple being granted the same rights that they have does nothing to harm their marriage. It's just pathetic that Maggie spends her days demonizing gays and trying to prevent us from living in healthy, committed relationships that the government sees as equal to those of our heterosexual counterparts, when if she really was so concerned about saving marriage there are so many other avenues that could be worked. Try educating straight people about the realities of marriage, about birth control, about life planning and management rather than pressuring teens to follow antiquated norms and societal roles. Try countering the media and the advertising industry which glorifies sex above all else. But leave the gays alone, it just makes you look like a spurned fag-hag.
Fun fact about Ms. Gallagher: On January 26, 2005, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post found that Gallagher had received tens of thousands of dollars from the Department of Health and Human Services during 2002 and 2003 for helping the George W. Bush administration promote the President's "healthy marriage" initiative. During this time, Gallagher testified before Congress in favor of "healthy marriage" programs, but never disclosed the payments.
Now we move to Elaine Donnelly. I had heard of this monster before, but just recently saw her atrociousness manifest in an interview she did with Anderson Cooper on CNN, along with Lt. Dan Choi, the man who was recently kicked out of the military after coming out on the Rachel Maddow show (on MSNBC). Choi is a West Point grad, an arabic linguist, and a combat veteran of the Iraq war who served as an infantry officer. Now, in my naivety, I really thought that Elaine would have to crumble under the weight of her own bigotry and have an epiphany right there in front of Anderson Cooper, God, and Everyone and realize the error of her ways after coming face to face (or at least a facsimile via satellite) with Mr. Choi, who embodies the bravery and commitment to this country that makes it possible for nutjobs like her and Maggie Gallagher to express their bitter, evil opinions. He also embodies the true spirit of the American Soldier who fights to protect our country and be a force of good in a world that's crawling with crazies. But no, she just spouted her talking points and rehearsed hash about how gays are bad for the military, blah blah blah, and she got 1000 old codgers who used to be in the army to sign some piece of paper backing her up, despite the fact that the rest of the military and civilians favor repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. Oh, and it was classic how Anderson pointed out that Elaine's organization, although having the word "Military" in the title, is in no way affiliated with the United States Military. Again, I find it very odd that some straight female who has never even been in the armed forces has taken it upon herself to fight this crusade, when there are so many more worthy causes that she could be working on. It makes me sick to think of the energy this woman has put into demoralizing brave men and women who put their lives on the line for this country, when she could be using that energy and drive to accomplish something that makes this world better.
And lastly, I won't allow myself to go into too much details about Ms. Phelps-Roper because she thrives on the attention, but Really?!? She honestly believes that God is a vengeful and angry God who punishes entire nations with natural disasters, wars, and death because he hates fags? I mean Fred's rants are clearly a symptom of myriad mental health issues, and yet this woman who actually is a lawyer, somehow believes this is the fight to devote her life too? I just really wish I could be a fly on the way when she has those moments of clarity where she MUST realize that she is completely wrong. Bitch has GOT to have some pretty screwed up internal dialogues. I can't even imagine waking up with her life and thinking that I should even bother getting out of bed. The brainwashing and mental illness that has permeated that family is really just the best example I can come up with of "what can go wrong with humans". It's so sad, that even as a gay man, knowing all the hateful rhetoric she has spewed, all the violence she has propagated and the guilt, anger and sense of shame that must lie right below the surface, I can't even muster up anything for her except sympathy. I sincerely hope that when she dies, she can at least be thankful that there is no hell for her to go to.
I give an honorable mention to Orly Taitz, the birther queen, for being another complete whack-job, but since she's kinda the new crazy-on-the-scene, she's going to have to put in a lot more hours of insanity before she can reach the heights of the above trifecta of twats.
Hopefully that may explain why I have a low tolerance for those "damsels in distress" or those who still seem stuck in 50's mindset of the male being the breadwinner and the woman taking care of the house. I never really lived that way; both my parents were equal in running the family, the home, and the finances.
But worse than that, are these three ladies who have really confounded me with their life choices. They are Maggie Gallagher, the president of the National Organization for Marriage; Elaine Donnelly, of the "Center for Military Preparedness"; and Shirley Phelps-Roper, the heir apparent to Fred Phelps' hate group known as the Westboro Baptist "Church."
Maggie Gallagher is a real piece of work. She's such a clearly unhappy and judgmental woman that there is no small amount of irony that she has positioned herself as the savior of what she calls "traditional marriage" - I mean, can you really imagine a male being in a happy marriage with her? She uses underhanded lies and trickery to scare people into voting to discriminate against people, but then likes to put on her sad face and pretend to be all offended when people call her out for what she is: a bigot. She claims that she is "respectful" of homosexuals and even uses the age old lie that "some of her friends are gay" but that she is just trying to save the institution of marriage, and likes to tell all sorts of tales about what could happen to the world if gays could marry. How it undermines "traditional" (or "opposite") marriage and how it will just eat away at the very fabric of society until we are all a bunch of deranged, perverted heathens. Of course in reality, the facts are that she is dead wrong. Massachusetts, the first state that legalized marriage equality back in 2004, has actually seen a decrease in their divorce rates since then. And ask any straight couple who isn't hampered by bigotry and religious brainwashing and they'll say the truth: a committed homosexual couple being granted the same rights that they have does nothing to harm their marriage. It's just pathetic that Maggie spends her days demonizing gays and trying to prevent us from living in healthy, committed relationships that the government sees as equal to those of our heterosexual counterparts, when if she really was so concerned about saving marriage there are so many other avenues that could be worked. Try educating straight people about the realities of marriage, about birth control, about life planning and management rather than pressuring teens to follow antiquated norms and societal roles. Try countering the media and the advertising industry which glorifies sex above all else. But leave the gays alone, it just makes you look like a spurned fag-hag.
Fun fact about Ms. Gallagher: On January 26, 2005, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post found that Gallagher had received tens of thousands of dollars from the Department of Health and Human Services during 2002 and 2003 for helping the George W. Bush administration promote the President's "healthy marriage" initiative. During this time, Gallagher testified before Congress in favor of "healthy marriage" programs, but never disclosed the payments.
Now we move to Elaine Donnelly. I had heard of this monster before, but just recently saw her atrociousness manifest in an interview she did with Anderson Cooper on CNN, along with Lt. Dan Choi, the man who was recently kicked out of the military after coming out on the Rachel Maddow show (on MSNBC). Choi is a West Point grad, an arabic linguist, and a combat veteran of the Iraq war who served as an infantry officer. Now, in my naivety, I really thought that Elaine would have to crumble under the weight of her own bigotry and have an epiphany right there in front of Anderson Cooper, God, and Everyone and realize the error of her ways after coming face to face (or at least a facsimile via satellite) with Mr. Choi, who embodies the bravery and commitment to this country that makes it possible for nutjobs like her and Maggie Gallagher to express their bitter, evil opinions. He also embodies the true spirit of the American Soldier who fights to protect our country and be a force of good in a world that's crawling with crazies. But no, she just spouted her talking points and rehearsed hash about how gays are bad for the military, blah blah blah, and she got 1000 old codgers who used to be in the army to sign some piece of paper backing her up, despite the fact that the rest of the military and civilians favor repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. Oh, and it was classic how Anderson pointed out that Elaine's organization, although having the word "Military" in the title, is in no way affiliated with the United States Military. Again, I find it very odd that some straight female who has never even been in the armed forces has taken it upon herself to fight this crusade, when there are so many more worthy causes that she could be working on. It makes me sick to think of the energy this woman has put into demoralizing brave men and women who put their lives on the line for this country, when she could be using that energy and drive to accomplish something that makes this world better.
And lastly, I won't allow myself to go into too much details about Ms. Phelps-Roper because she thrives on the attention, but Really?!? She honestly believes that God is a vengeful and angry God who punishes entire nations with natural disasters, wars, and death because he hates fags? I mean Fred's rants are clearly a symptom of myriad mental health issues, and yet this woman who actually is a lawyer, somehow believes this is the fight to devote her life too? I just really wish I could be a fly on the way when she has those moments of clarity where she MUST realize that she is completely wrong. Bitch has GOT to have some pretty screwed up internal dialogues. I can't even imagine waking up with her life and thinking that I should even bother getting out of bed. The brainwashing and mental illness that has permeated that family is really just the best example I can come up with of "what can go wrong with humans". It's so sad, that even as a gay man, knowing all the hateful rhetoric she has spewed, all the violence she has propagated and the guilt, anger and sense of shame that must lie right below the surface, I can't even muster up anything for her except sympathy. I sincerely hope that when she dies, she can at least be thankful that there is no hell for her to go to.
I give an honorable mention to Orly Taitz, the birther queen, for being another complete whack-job, but since she's kinda the new crazy-on-the-scene, she's going to have to put in a lot more hours of insanity before she can reach the heights of the above trifecta of twats.
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