Rob Watson
Page 3
-
My wish for the family with two dads who brought Christmas to a group of homeless LGBT youth
There is a bittersweet aspect to this story. As I tell it, I am not able to use the full names of the family members. I have not been able to tell you exactly where they are. There is a reason. They, as a family, are in hiding.
-
How a sheltered housewife became the foremost in-your-face challenger of Christian homophobia
A modern day pro-LGBT Joan of Arc, Kathy Baldock’s advocacy is not from behind a computer screen, but face-to-face interaction with the most rabid anti-gay ministers in the U.S. evangelical movement.
-
Why I want Pope Francis to write a requiem for Gabriel Fernandez, the boy tortured to death for appearing gay
There is a story that I have felt compelled to write for three months. I have not written it because I have found it difficult to find the words. I have the words. I have the exact words. I have written them before. The story that has nagged at me is the mourning of Gabriel Fernandez, and the requiem of his death. He was eight years old. I know the words to say to Gabriel, because I wrote them in April to a little boy named Zachary…
-
An open letter to Rose McGowan on turning misogyny into feminism
Rose McGowan’s opinions have been all over social media the past few weeks. She started in an interview with a now infamous diss that gay men are “more misogynistic than hetero men.” … From my perspective with grass roots advocates, I submit that if she truly believes there have not been huge outcries over women’s concerns, of which equal pay is just one, then she simply has not been listening.
-
The amazing story of two dads who save their son’s life, over and over, each and every day
A little boy named Grayson is one of the most special children in the world. It all started with a haircut. Chad, a 22 year old young man, not out about his sexuality, got into Wayne’s chair at a salon. After discovering a sincere enjoyment of each other, they went on a date a week later. Over the course of a year, they realized their slow moving relationship had built into something very solid between them. At the time, they had no idea how solid it was going to have to be.
-
A survival guide for Christians who have been fighting against marriage equality
Many of us have been in the Marriage Equality war for a long, long time. I remember a drag queen host taking the microphone at San Jose Pride about a dozen years ago. She saw a group with “Freedom to Marry” t-shirts, and with a twinge of sadness remarked, “Oh honeys, they are NEVER going to let us get married, ever. You may as well give that one up right now.” She was wrong. As in all wars, there is a foe. In the United States, the foes tend to call themselves “Christians” …
-
One man’s quest to undermine his cousin’s marriage to a transgender man
Once upon a time there were two cousins, Jessica and Robby. They grew up together in the warm and wet Mississippi back lands. They swam, they fished and Jessica loved and respected her cousin. He gave her the sense of understanding family and loyalty. That sense of family and loyalty was upended completely recently when Robby recently ran to the American Family Association — an entity defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “hate” organization — to get their help in humiliating and attacking Jessica’s marriage. Robby has never met Jessica’s husband.
-
A letter to the ‘Christian’ mom wishing death for her disabled lesbian daughter
Public disapproval over who could marry whom was an issue for Kelly’s family early on. Her father is black, and her mother is white. Kelly and her brother were bullied frequently in the small town in Alabama. They were the only mixed race kids in town. Kelly was quiet and shy and kept to herself. When she was 16, Kelly found a name for the identity that had been growing within her: lesbian….
-
A letter to the ‘Christian’ grandmother advocating homophobic books for teens
Laurie Higgins is a Christian grandmother with a limited professional background (according to her bio). She has worked as “cultural analyst” for The Illinois “Family” Institute for six years, and before that was employed in the “writing center” for a high school. I am not exactly sure what the job qualifications are to be a “cultural analyst” but whatever they are, they have not won Ms. Higgins many friends…
-
A gay dad’s open letter to the homophobic parents who threw away their gay son
Another young person has been thrown out of his home for coming out as gay. I have written about this on a number of occasions covering such events in the United States, Nigeria and Uganda. This time the event was recorded. Trying to imagine the evil some people can impart on their children is no longer necessary. Now we can hear them in their own self righteous voices…
