Calling a Homophobic Bigot a Bigot is Not Bullying

The growing meme among Christianists and the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy is to play the victim card and claim that it is LGBT individuals, not they themselves who are the bullies.  They even go on to allege that any recognition of LGBT civil rights and equality under the CIVIL laws is s threat to and diminution of their "religious liberty."  It's  a disingenuous lie, but then lying and dishonesty seem to be the principal hallmarks of the Christianists/Catholic hierarchy - and the protection of child molesters is yet another distinct attribute of the Catholic hierarchy that involves dishonesty.  

The real bullies, of course, are not LGBT advocates who merely seek equal rights and equal protection under the law for all citizens, gay and straight.  Not to mention the right of citizens to reject the increasingly foul version of Christianity shilled by the professional Christian set and the child rapist protecting Catholic hierarchy.   An opinion piece in the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin makes the case as to the true identity of the bullies.  What is the height of hypocrisy is that the Rev. Johannes M. M. Smith (pictured above) referenced in the column is a priest at Mount St. Francis Hermitage in Maine, New York (a Franciscan Friary) whose founder recently plead guilty to felony sexual abuse.  It would seem that Fr. Smith should be focusing his attention on the moral cesspool within the Church before he starts condemning law abiding LGBT citizens.  Here are some column highlights:

[C]alling a homophobic bigot a bigot is not bullying, just like calling a racist a racist or a misogynist a misogynist isn't bullying. And students and teachers actively working to create a school that is free from homophobia certainly isn't bullying; it's heroism.

However, there have been several statements by public figures lately that have suggested that challenging injustice is a kind of reverse prejudice. For example, the Rev. Johannes M.M. Smith wrote a letter to the editor last month responding to my comments at the Pride flag raising at City Hall, in which I stated that coming to our celebration and calling the gay and lesbian residents of this city the "exaltation of immorality," "perversion," "Satanic," a "scandalous abomination" and in league with the "principalities of darkness" was bullying. He suggested in his statement that my characterization of him was libelous and bullying. It was not.

And then last week at the Vestal School Board, in response to the passionate efforts to remove Tennessee state Sen. Stacey Campfield's picture from the school's Wall of Fame for his homophobia, and inaccurate statements about the transmission of HIV/AIDS, school board president Kim Meyer similarly suggested that these efforts were bullying. They are not.

Speaking truth to power is not bullying. But continuing to celebrate a homophobic bigot and forcing your gay and lesbian students to walk by his picture every day is. Taking away privileges (or honors) because of bad behavior is something teachers and schools are familiar with. It should be a pretty easy call for educators that hurting gay kids (as research shows the senator's statements actually do) is bad behavior.

But just in case you're not sure, on July 1 the Dignity for All Students act became law in New York. This law mandates that schools intervene whenever possible to correct and prevent bullying and harassment and protect gay and lesbian kids (along with so many others that are often the targets of bullies).

For too long bullying and hatred have been allowed to hide behind the cloak of "religious belief."  I for one am long over giving ignorant, bigoted and harmful religious belief special privileges.  In a secular society such as the United States, the Christofascists are free to hold their beliefs, but when they seek to inflict them on others and/or harm others, their rights stop and the rights of others take precedence. LGBT citizens living their lives as fully equal citizens harms no one.  And those who believe that it does should be focusing their efforts on curing their own damaged and warped psyches, not persecuting gay citizens.