I have long been arguing that anti-gay Christianists have blood on their hands for the inflated level of gay teen suicides - and I suspect many unreported suicides of older LGBT individuals as well. Now a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute indicates that two thirds (2/3) of the American public agree with this premise and lay blame on churches and denominations that demonize gays and homosexuality. Not surprisingly, some of the most vocal anti-gay Christianists - e.g., Maggie Gallagher and the modern day Pharisees at Focus on the Family - are shrieking and whining that they are being unfairly blamed. Interestingly enough, Catholics were the most likely to condemn their church's treatment of gays notwithstanding the Nazi Pope's efforts to blame gays for all kinds of ills and his branding of gays as "inherently disordered." Of course, what people need to do is start voting with their feet and leaving the churches and denominations that continue to peddle anti-gay hatred even thought they are on notice of the deadly consequences it brings. As for LGBT activists, we need to keep tying the death toll around the necks of the Christianists where it properly belongs. Here are highlights from CNN on the survey findings:*
Two out of three Americans believe gay people commit suicide at least partly because of messages coming out of churches and other places of worship, a survey released Thursday found. More than four out of 10 Americans say the message coming out of churches about gay people is negative, and about the same number say those messages contribute "a lot" to negative perceptions of gay and lesbian people.
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Catholics were the most critical of their own churches' messages on homosexuality, while white evangelical Christians gave their churches the highest grades, the survey found.
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Only five out of 100 people gave churches generally an A for their handling of "the issue of homosexuality" in the Public Religion Research Institute survey, while 28 percent said their own church handled it well. One in three people said that messages from places of worship contribute "a lot" to higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth.
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The disingenuousness of the Christianists trying to duck responsibility for the consequences of their constant message of hate is shocking, but not surprising from a group who is typically lying if their lips are moving. America Blog Gay has a great take down of Maggie Gallagher's utter bullshit excuses as to why she bears no responsibility for the recent wave of teen deaths. Here are some highlights:
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Gallagher’s formulation of the argument makes it sound ridiculous. Of course she and her ilk are not directly responsible for the spate of gay suicides, but most gay-rights folk aren’t arguing that -- it’s a straw man. The real charge is that anti-gay rhetoric in politics has a trickle-down effect that reinforces the type of anti-gay attitudes that make life tough for gay teens.
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Opponents of marriage equality -- or of gays serving in the military, for that matter -- like to pretend that their “principled” opposition to gay rights is not borne of the sort of prejudice that makes bullies beat up on gay kids. . . . . But this is what makes anti-gay activists like her so pernicious: They lend prejudice an air of respectability.
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The broader point is that opposition to marriage equality is deeply rooted in prejudice. This prejudice manifests itself in various ways -- in bullying, hateful online comments, and yes, in political opposition to gay rights. While Gallagher is not barging into schools bullying gay kids, she is reinforcing the type of prejudice that leads others to do so.
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At the end of the op-ed, Gallagher says that "each of these kids is a child of God,” and says they need “real help.” But apparently even children of God don’t deserve to be free of bullying in schools.
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Personally, I continue to believe that there's a special place reserved in Hell for Gallagher and her fellow hate-filled Christianists.
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