As I was tootling around Milwaukee today, running errands, I was listening to the local creepy "Christian" station. (Why, oh why, do I torture myself this way? Well, someone has to keep an eye on them. And if my friend Adam can watch Joe Millionaire for the sake of his country, then this is the least I can do.)
The local host, Vic Eliason, had as his guest Peter LaBarbera. Pete is a "Senior Policy Analyst" for the Culture and Family Institute, which is part of Concerned Women for America. CWA was founded by Beverly LaHaye, wife of Timothy LaHaye, the fellow who has inflicted the Left Behind series on America. (Oh, thank you so very much, guys.) The CWA crowd spends most of their time churning out propaganda against things and people they don't like. Gay people seem pretty high on their list. (The website is of note, if only for the picture of Bev in her hair helmet. Lord knows how much ozone layer loss that woman has been personally responsible for over the years.)
Pete's an interesting character. I've heard him speak before, as he is the CWA's "expert" on "homosexual activism." Lets just say that when I heard him speak about how he "infiltrated" the Castro street crowd, he seemed to really l-i-n-g-e-r over his description of what he saw there. All in the name of research, of course. Sure, Petie.
Well, I listened as long as I could stomach it. I also had to be sure my daughter was asleep, as I don't like to expose her tender ears to such drivel. But as I heard what was said, some thoughts did occur to me.
1) I heard gay people described as "unnatural, vile, disgusting, deviant, ungodly, perverted, the result of a sinful heart, degenerate, and weapons of mass destruction." (Not all in the same sentence, though.) However, I was assured that the speakers really, really didn't hate gay people. They love them, ever so much. They just feel so strongly about this because God tells them to in the Bible.
Sure they do. Perhaps I'll believe this when I hear about a rally these folks sponsor against wearing poly cotton blends, expressly forbidden in Deuteronomy 22:11.
2) One woman called in and talked about how worried she was that gay people are becoming so "violent." She appeared astonished that "when you go up to a homosexual, and tell them that they are wrong, they get very angry. I mean, if someone came up to me and told me that being married with 5 children, like I am, is wrong, I wouldn't be angry, because I know what I'm doing is right."
Well, sweetie, let's say that being married and having children had been outlawed for years, and had only recently become legal. Let's say the police could burst into your home on a pretext and arrest you for having sex with your husband (hello, Texas!) Lets say people would fire you from your job, beat you up in the street, and torment you for your relationship with your spouse. Let's say you had fought damn hard over the years for what few rights you had. And then, let's say that someone came up to you, uninvited, and started lecturing you on the sinfulness of your life.
Angry? You're damn right I'd be angry. In fact, you'd be lucky if I didn't pop you one. Now you know how they feel. Or, most likely, you don't, because if you're the caller described above the analogy I made probably went completely over your head.
3) At one point, Vic, the host, noted that (and I paraphrase, to some extent) "When I was in school, back in the days of King Herod" (Oh, Vic. What a card you are. An absolute scream. Let hilarity ensue!) " . . . people just didn't talk about this. . . those that practiced it were abnormal, and on the fringe." There was also a lot of talk about protecting the sweet little innocent children from such wickedness and deviancy, as it could destroy them for life.
This started me thinking about my grandmother, and a picture we have, dating from either 1930 or 1931. As some background information, my maternal grandmother Mamie was born in Milwaukee in 1904. In 1930, she had two small children, a husband permanently ensconced at the VA hospital, and had lost both of her parents within 6 months of each other. She took a job at a hosiery company to support herself, and her half-cousin Mabel (who we always called Aunt Mabel), who worked at a candy factory, came to live in the same house to help. Pretty average, working class folks.
Anyway, we have a picture, taken at a party held at my grandmother's house, depicting about a dozen people posed together in the kitchen. My mother has gone through all the folks listed there with me, as I'm a big family history buff. And as she went through the faces, she came to Cookie and Alex.
"Alex, he wore makeup and curled his hair. Cookie - he was a little tougher. They worked at the factory with Aunt Mabel. They had been friends of her and her friends. They used to came over, with the rest of the group (from the photo) They ended up being friends of my mother as well."
What did you and Uncle Bob think about them, I asked.
"Well, they were just Cookie and Alex. I don't remember thinking much of anything - that was just who they were."
Hmm. Guess if Mom had been traumatized, she seems to have hidden it pretty well.
Bully for you, Grandma. And bully for Aunt Mabel.
Posted by at March 13, 2003 10:50 PM