On Gayness and Useless Things

So, you’ve read the papers – gay youths are taking their lives in epic numbers (not just lately – it’s just in the news more these days…) and it’s all just… tragic. And so very sad. I’m heartbroken for the families of these young people. I love and admire the “It Gets Better” campaign running all over youtube these days. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you live under a rock. (And go check it out, if you haven’t already.)

I’m also really loving this hilarious piece called “It Gets Worse.” Please have a look at this short clip, and laugh your ass off, as I did.

What I didn’t find very funny was this article about a particular book on CURING gay people of their gayness that will now be made available in about a hundred Wal-Mart stores in the near future. It’s shocking. I know.

Le sigh.

Listen. There are lots of reasons to hate Wal-Mart. It’s as tacky as hell in there, for one. Nevermind how the chain undercuts small businesses everywhere, causing financial ruin of The Little Guy at every turn… when they start selling anti-gay literature, people start talking about boycotts.

Here’s the thing: they also sell guns, but I don’t buy them. Some people do… not really my kind of people, generally. I don’t think they sell pornography, but maybe they should? I actually don’t know for sure, but I don’t care since I never hardly ever shop there. (Sometimes their toiletries are wicked-cheap, yo.)

I have less of a problem with Wal-Mart trying to sell such stupid, tacky crap to stupid, tacky people (who might actually think this Jesus-magic can work, by the way) and I have no intention of reading the book, so again, though not funny, I’m feeling kind of apathetic about it. (Apathetic about the book, not about the mistreatment of homosexuals or other minorities.) It’s useless drivel. Whoever buys a copy in hopes of it straightening the gay-curls out of their loved-one is going to be in for a shock. There’s a lot of garbage in the world. You can’t stop people from manufacturing it or ingesting it. Like Cheez-Whiz. Or Snuggies.

Here are some examples of useless, insidious things widely available to the masses:

Since I will not crack it open, I cannot tell you for certain what lies within the covers of this book. I don’t know if the LDS writer, Janice Barrett Graham is a super-hater of gay people, or of all forms of “evil” in general. I don’t know if it’s all bashy and whatnot. It doesn’t really surprise me that it exists though, given the source. Sometimes acceptance of new things (like brown people, gay people, inter-faith marriage, etc.) are tres difficile for some groups. It just takes them longer to get with the program. Apparently, her technique and teachings cured her son Andrew, who is now happily living as an ex-homosexual someplace. PHEW!! How lucky for him! Lord knows how awful it is to be different. Just ask Jesus. (And we all know what happened to that guy!)

And I’ll add that at $12.95 USD, you get what you pay for.

Please understand I’m not defending Wal-Mart. Not at all. I don’t give a fuck about Wal-Mart. I just want cheap shampoo now and again.

So, if you’re NOT a Wal-Mart hater, and you only want to run in now and then to get some hairspray or glitter or something, then by all means, just bypass the book/porn/gun sections entirely. If there was a book on all the great things that Hitler had to offer, I wouldn’t buy that either. Does it offend me? Does it offend me that there are still people out there who believe that the Holocaust never happened? Yes. But I’d rather know who those people are outright – please wear a sign on your head, or carry a book under your arm – so you can be clearly identified as clueless, and useless. You are no longer dangerous to me. I laugh in your face.

I’m not saying this piece of crap is harmless. I’m just not sure it’s super harmful. I’m fairly confident it’s not going to make the New York Times best sellers list. (It might be be safe to quote me on that.) Let the feeble-minded ones try to pray away their “afflictions.” One day, being gay will not be seen as such. I hope it’s soon though, because holy crap, this kind of news is so disheartening.

One day it just won’t be a big deal to anyone. At all.

G.G.

NOTE: To those mean jackasses who posted that video of their fellow student – Shame on you. SHAME! What you did was wicked and cruel, and it destroyed a life. There is no prison for you. I hope you feel as bad as you should – may you live with that sick feeling for a long time, and may you never, ever get over it. Intention is everything – and karma is a tricky bitch, so get ready.