I have seen the gay rights movement make progress by leaps and bounds in my short lifetime. My mother swore she would never love another man after my parents were divorced when I was very young. She would take me to any and all gay pride events and parades she could. She made many friends and I had many gay “uncles” all of a sudden. They were some of the most kind individuals I have ever met to this day. If it wasn’t for their support I don’t know how my mom would have handled the struggles of being a newly divorced woman with three children.
Over the past decades I have noticed how supportive the gay community is to their own. Not even their own, when I think about it. If you accept your friend for who they are, they always seemed to return that support ten fold. The LGBTQ+ community always seemed so fun, lively and care free. However, under the carefree fun times there was always a fear of the intolerant. Gays were randomly beat or even killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was hard for me to imagine that these people could be treated so inhumanely. They simply wanted to love who they wanted. They wanted to get married, adopt kids, settle down and all the other things involved when someone chases their version of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I look back and feel a sense of pride that they have come so far and accomplished so much.
A few weeks ago I started hearing rumors about Drag Queen Story Time. I was under the impression it was a drag queen at a library reading books to children. That seemed a little odd, even to a guy that grew up around gay men, but if people want to bring their children to it then that is a personal choice they should be allowed to make in a “free society”. I started seeing quotes from local politicians saying things like “if you participate you’ll go to jail” or “we will send Child Services to take your kids”. I stood up to those cheering on such bigoted tyranny that this was unconstitutional. Lawmakers will fight today so you can be arrested for wearing a dress, tomorrow some other insignificant excuse of being immoral. I unfriended people that didn’t seem to understand what a free society is supposed to look like. The next morning I saw the Dallas drag show with twerking, dollar bills and children under a neon sign above the walkway of a gay club reading “It’s not going to lick itself”. Wow!
This is not what I thought the gay rights movement was fighting for. It went from being able to have dignity for yourself without fear of physical violence against you… to this? People are scared of groomers and over-sexualizing kids, and the response from a small group of the LGBTQ+ community was to have children stuff dollar bills in the skimpy clothing of someone dancing. Make no mistake, I would be equally disgusted by this behavior if it were in a heterosexual way. If Timmy is celebrating his fifth birthday at Hooters while throwing dollar bills at girls doing bouncing splits, I would be equally appalled.
Sadly, this one example will be used against the gay community for years. I still believe gay couples should be able to adopt children, which was a huge win for the community. Arkansas was the last state to make this legal as recently as 2017. The Dallas Drag show just gave ammunition to those wanting to fight against LGBTQ+. These style events could easily set this human rights movement back years, if not decades.
I am now battling my own ideas of politics. I believe in individual rights, and as long as you are not hurting anyone then people should simply mind their business. Technically, no one was hurt so I wouldn’t say people should be arrested. However, this behavior towards children is crossing some lines that I believe everyone should condemn, including the gay community. The LGBTQ+ community is always so supportive of each other, but at some point you’ve got to see how this doesn’t help and speak up. In the eyes of many, these events could make the LGBTQ+ community synonymous with immorality. We have come too far, and fought too hard to allow unalienable rights to be questioned.
