Commentary

Hate is easy. Love takes courage.

Hate is easy. Love takes courage.

I saw those two sentences in an article I was reading this morning, and I suddenly understood why folks are so hateful. It’s easy.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of brain power to go from; “My life sucks: to: “I’m going blame _____ (fill in the blank) for that.” It especially doesn’t take much brain power when you have politicians, ministers and priests all telling you who to blame for your lot in life. They aren’t asking you to love _____ (fill in the blank); they are telling you what you must do to prevent _____ from ruining your life, your marriage, your country.

It’s not based in love, it’s based in fear and fear breeds hate and hate is simply – well – it’s easy. Why search for the answers when others are telling you how to act and how to feel, who to blame and who to hate.

Jump on that hate train. It stops at the; It’s the Gays, it’s the Women, it’s the blacks, it’s the Jews, it’s the Muslims, it’s the _____ – (You fill in the blank) stations, all across America. It’s easy to board the train of hate and blame.

My life and the lives of millions of gay Americans is affected everyday by the easiness of hate.

It’s become easy to hate homosexuals in America, and in some instances, it’s become a part of the fabric of the organization. Political parties, churches, social organizations make billions of dollars on their “gay hate.” They can wrap it in any sort of bow they want, but hate is hate. Period.

For some of us in the gay community, it takes a great deal of courage to still love and value ourselves as Americans.

When you are told on a daily basis that your life doesn’t matter, and you have a political party placing in their platform that you have no right to have a life that involves marriage and individual rights that are to be given to all Americans – it is not always easy to be loving and caring.

The thing is – when gays stand up and say we’ve had enough – we are radicals and we are trying to change the entire fabric of America. Nothing could be further from the truth. We simply want what is ours to have.

It takes courage to stand up for who and what you are and speak your truth. It doesn’t take courage to stand behind someone or something that speaks for you – that’s laziness, ignorance and hatefulness.

It takes courage to continue to fight for what is right and just for everyone. It doesn’t take courage to only want certain rights for certain people – that’s called discrimination and that is hateful and easy.

It takes courage to love unconditionally; most of us only achieve that sort of love with our pets! We place conditions on friends, lovers, partners, husbands, wives, etc… and in the end we are usually disappointed and angry that they didn’t do what we wanted. It’s just easier to be disappointed than to release them to be the person they were meant to be. It doesn’t take courage to control and demand – that’s just fear and insecurity ruling your life.

It takes courage to be gay in a straight person’s world.

It takes courage to know who you are is simply who you are and not a choice you made, and that you deserve “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

It takes courage to stand and say: “I’m gay,” knowing that your life from that moment on will never be the same. It doesn’t take courage to mock and discriminate and judge and hate – that’s foolish and stupid, and as we in the gay community know full well; you just can’t fight stupid.

It takes courage to go into the voting booth and vote your heart when you’re being told to vote because of religion, racism, and ignorance. Your vote doesn’t belong to your church or your political party or your family or your spouse or your friends or your whatever. It’s your vote, your voice.

Hate is easy. Love takes courage.

Choose to be courageous.

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