Geez Tac, my signature must have really gotten under your skin for you to take that this far. If I’m the one with thin skin then why are you pushing the issue all over these forums? I think it’s ironic that you feel sorry for me. I don’t. But I ought to feel sorry for you begrudging me enough to bring some personal business that happened on Mylargescale.com mostly via private messages over to LSC. Let me address for a moment the problematic threads caused by people on this forum about politics, religious beliefs, and pathetically enough in this day and age, racism. These threads have upset many people, but due to ‘freedom of speech’ , people can say what they want. Well Tac, that includes me. My signature says nothing at all about my sexuality personally. You can equate me however you wish, I don’t mind one way or the other.
Running away from MLS to get support here is just silly. Those of you here defending Tac, it is very thoughtful seeing how loyal you are to your friend, but get the facts and hear both sides of the story before judging me. Many of you have summed me up before even knowing what my signature indeed said. It is pretty hypocritical that some folks can make mention their wife and kids repeatedly but how dare someone have a signature that implies that they might be gay. And having said that Tac, you ‘flaunt’ being Irish-Jewish all the time, yet you don’t seem to worry about offending someone that might hate Jewish people. There are many holes in peoples’ political bouts. People only want policy that benefits them, and when it helps another and not them, they stand against it. Put yourselves in another’s shoes once in a while. Try to understand for a second the struggles of others. People are just as greedy in politics as they are in finance.
"If I were to place my tag line as 'Proud to be Hetero-sexual', then I would be branded by the gay community as being critical of homosexuality. However, if a gay member writes a gay-oriented tag line, then it is seemingly OK and to criticise his choice of tag line is unconstitutional as one is not allowed to discriminate on matters of race, creed and sexuality. How come he has constitutional rights and I do not?" -Tim Brien
Tim I find this part very humorous in many ways. The constitution does not protect gays any more than it protects a piece of grass from being stepped on. If a gay person is hospitalized, their wife or husband (oh wait, marriage is not recognized or legal), excuse me, their 'partner' has no legal right to get in to see them. It is still legal to discriminate against gays in many ways, the only difference is now it's not without a fight. Before, it was uncontested because so many people were afraid to be open and those who weren't usually got beaten within inches of their lives, if not killed.
At this point I realize that all I am doing is inviting a bunch of anti-gay politics as I am the only person on this side of the scale, but for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. I'm not here to fight with anyone. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so am I. One day I was running a train back to Nashville and the train that was following us hit a 14 year old boy. I was pretty sad about that, but was even sadder when I found out that the boy had just been kicked out of his house by his parents for telling them he was gay, and none of his friends would take him in for the same reason, so he killed himself in front of a train. What a waste of life due to the fact that the people who stand up to defend gays are few and far between.
Noone naturally hates gay people from birth. They are influenced so by the people they care for, peers, religion, and the propensity people have for sticking to the crowd. I don't pass judgment on that because I want people to like me too. I think everyone does. Heterosexuals don't need protection from discrimination generally because they are the majority. Now, to offer a curve ball into the equation. I knew a gay person who had been picked on his whole life because, let's face it, this guy was just more effeminate than Whoopi Goldberg. Hmmm, wait, bad example. Ok, anyways... This guy was talking to a friend about heterosexuals all being hypocrites, bigots, and generally bad people. I intervened and asked him if any heterosexual ever came to his defense. He responded "Well, yes...". At this point I reminded him that he just lumped all heterosexual people as small-minded lemmings who lived to despise, hurt, and kill homosexuals. In doing so he just shamed those who have protected him and that was every bit as wrong as him being lumped into what people saw him as. Two wrongs don't make a right, ever....
I am well aware of general concensus concerning the struggles for equality. People against gays feel that a law that is passed to make a gay person's life easier is a wasted effort because it helps them in no way. They don't understand why a gay person should have a law specific to them when they didn't get one of equal value. They view this process as unfair, unjust, and hatred ensues suggesting that these people are whining for civil rights. The reality is... most adults are just kids with frailer bodies who decide these things. They do not understand that minorities need safety nets in their lives because they are at much greater risk of failing in society, employment, or office. The sad thing is that there have to be laws in place to force protection on them in the first place as your average Joe won't treat them well of his own accord.
I've honestly said all I really need to say at this point. I hope my response is more educational than it is angering to people, but that is for each individual to decide. Tac, I really hope you can get past this someday. I bear you no ill will, not now, not ever. Thanks for reading.
-Will