Is Tinker Bell Causing Homophobia?

Why does the gay community keep wondering why the heterosexual world won’t accept the fact that we are just like them in all aspects of life except how we choose to love?

This is a good question – and I believe I am pretty sure of at least one reason.

I’m all for having fun, being out, and open with your partner in the light of normality, if there is such a thing – no matter your sexual orientation.

I’m not exactly an advocate of fey gay men wearing Tinker Bell outfits at Disney’s Pride Day and frolicking around like idiots or prancing in their leather “cock socks” in front of children. Especially children of straight families that didn’t know it was Gay Day and by no means were prepared to witness such a thing or have to explain this to their children right there on the spot. Can we not just let children be children? Television is bad enough.  We should know better and behave accordingly. After all, isn’t Disney a place for kids?

I don’t think these kind of exhibits are doing anything but portraying a negative image of the gay community in a general sense, and some would agree it’s damaging the perception society has on all of us in our fight for equality. It certainly isn’t doing anything beneficial for my family, and frankly, I’m a little tired of it.

It’s no wonder we are still being discriminated against and not seen as a respectable, hard working, child raising, honest living culture of people with minimal differences than that of our straight counterparts.

Many heterosexuals like to concoct reasons for the “unnatural” actions we portray when we are just being who we are. They say we are sick, twisted, immoral sinners. They say we are going to burn in Hell for the lifestyles we lead. They say we have an agenda to “recruit” children and “convert” them to the homosexual lifestyle.

They say we have no right to have children.  These words are what fuel my passion.

All of these things couldn’t be further from the truth, and it boils my blood to the core to have to deal with it in my life by continually having to endure hardships via discrimination, intolerance, ignorance, and denial of basic human rights that everyone else takes for granted.

I’m tired of living in a state that denies my health coverage when my partner has been employed by our county for the past 15 years. She has great coverage for herself and our kids, but I’m forced to have to obtain my own medical insurance. We would be denied visitation in the hospital if one of us fell ill. We would have no inheritance rights if one of us were to pass away. We have to have extra documents drawn up and spend an arm and a leg to have our children protected in case something were to happen to one or both of us.  We desperately need basic rights – for the benefit of our family.

Granted, over the past few years, there have been significant advances in our fight for equality. We have victoriously obtained Gay Marriages in Massachusetts and California. We have Domestic Partnerships and Civil Unions in a handful of states including Oregon, Washington, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, D.C., Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland.  Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in South Florida have even passed Domestic Partnership rights, which is an absolute miracle. I never in my wildest dreams saw this possible since the Anita Bryant Tyrant of 1977 demolished any hope of a gay rights for the state of Florida.

It’s about time something is we are seeing some progression forward.  We need to push for what is fair. We need to stand up and live honestly for what we believe in. All we want is the same rights everyone else has.

Am I worried about the outcome from the 2008 elections this November? Absolutely. I don’t want anything to jeopardize what we have been fighting for for so long. I don’t think we should be denied basic rights any longer. I don’t feel as though we should have to hide in the closet and not be able to hold our partner’s hand while walking down the street because uncomfortable straight couples don’t have the courage to tell their kids’ that there are different kinds of families in the world.

I don’t necessarily agree on overly flamboyant actions – by anyone. This includes public displays of affection, especially in front of young children. I don’t feel that it’s appropriate to see a straight teenage couple “making out” at the library when I bring my 2 year old son there on a Thursday afternoon. Why should have to literally block my toddler’s view when going to a library? There’s a time and a place for everything. I wouldn’t tolerate it from someone of my own sexual orientation. It’s just common decency.

I don’t understand why a lesbian couple at a Mariner’s baseball game at Seattle’s SAFECO field is harassed by security and told to stop kissing. They were doing what straight couples were doing – exchanging pecks. It was a simple thing. It was nothing. Why didn’t the straight couples sitting a few feet away from them and doing the same thing make it on the news? Why would this have to be broadcast by the media to stir things up for us and make those that hate us just hate us more?

Is there nothing else to talk about in the world?

And if “public displays of affection” are not appropriate in a public family setting, then why on earth is there a “kiss cam” inside the ballpark to catch just that?

Why is there such a double standard in our society?

People need to just be who they are. But in doing so, they just need to accept the fact that some people aren’t ever going to like or accept the way they are, no matter their beliefs, religions, race, family structures, or sexual orientation. There will always be discrimination and ignorance. In a perfect world, discrimination would be a word of the past.

We aren’t going away any time soon. In fact, we’re only getting stronger by the year as more and more people are unwilling to hide themselves from the ridiculous injustice society imposes on us. Eventually, we will prevail over the discrimination the majority of this country forces upon our lives, and have a say in what matters to us on all levels.

It still doesn’t change the fact that we have to earn the respect of mainstream America and prove we are just as entitled to rights as everyone else.

Flamboyancy isn’t getting us there any faster. If you aren’t going to dress like a Disney Character in your everyday life when you go to work or the grocery store, why on earth would you do it as a representative of a large group of people, knowing the media is going to just eat it up? This is what everyone is going to see on TV and base their viewpoints of off. It certainly isn’t helping our cause.

My suggestion? The TinkerBell costume needs to go back into the closet.