On the day after the Orlando massacre, I was on my way to work when I saw my neighbor, a friend I hadn't seen in a while. Our small talk quickly developed and, almost out of the blue, I heard him say "But would you want your daughter to be in a bathroom with a creeper who just decided to dress as a woman that day?" I never truly understood the phrase "seeing red" until that day. My brain clouded over, and I could feel anger rising from my stomach, to my chest, to my head. I spun around and walked away as fast as I could, not saying a word. I couldn't trust myself to be civil, to get my message across in a way it would be heard.
I knew my neighbor held more conservative beliefs than I did, but I was still shocked to hear him say something so blatant and mean. He's religious, go-to-church-every-Sunday-and-use-God-to-justify things sort of religious. This isn't the first time we've had a difference of opinion, and it won't be the last. I could use this article to explain why I disagree with my neighbor, but there are plenty of people who have already written in detail about these issues. Instead, I want to ask why Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) Rights are even argued against.
What gives anyone the right to decide who another person is allowed to be? How can people following a religion that promotes love, acceptance and forgiveness so fiercely -- and forcefully -- promote hate, separation and disdain? Why are people allowed to use religion to justify their own bigotry, and why has society allowed them to get away with it?
This neighbor of mine also vocally opposed our city’s decision to allow same-sex marriage in 2012, telling me that while he “has friends who are gay” he knew that marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman because the Bible said so. As a young bisexual girl who wasn’t fully aware or accepting of her sexuality yet, I internalized this, realizing that someone I respected and loved thought I shouldn’t be able to marry half the people I was attracted to. Yet, in the US, there is a separation of church and State for a reason, something I think anti-LGBTQIA+ Rights people forget. This country was founded on the notion of freedom of expression, and freedom of religion. While at the time this may have been variations of Christianity, the belief extends to all religion, or lack thereof. Religious beliefs should not color the rights of a person in our country, and therefore is not a justified reason to ban same-sex marriage, or gender non-conformity.
On June 26, 2015, the US made a step to move past bigotry, ignoring those stuck in the past, and decided to allow same-sex marriage. I can only hope that, almost a year later, we will soon take another step with policy regarding gender identity. In the face of the tragedy in Orlando, we must join together to create policy against hate crimes, and to support the grieving queer community.
