Power in Numbers

Since I posted the link, "Help LGBT Students Get Their Voices Heard", the petition has picked up over 125 new signatures.  Awesome!  If you're reading this and haven't signed, or don't even know what it's about, I encourage you to sign it.  And, if you don't know what it's about, read my previous entry of the same name.

At this point in time, it's urgent that we, the people who care and are passionate to see change in the way of equality for all, continue to pull together and be heard.  "The Other Side" is lashing out like never before!!!  Just today, I read of two MORE states attempting to implement their own version of a bill that will make it okay to bully LGBT teens if it's done for religious, political, or philosophical reasons.  That's absurd.  And, very dangerous.

Also today, pastor Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Bible Church spoke out against his state's push to legalize gay marriages.  His remarks were, indeed, remarkable:

“Do they believe that if they change the definition of marriage being between one man and one woman, what is going to stop two men one woman, two women one man, one man against a horse, one man with a boy, one man with anything,”

I can't even comment on that.

One of the two states that want to give a free pass to bullying if it's for religious, political, or philosophical reason is Michele Bachmann's Minnesota.  More specifically, it's the very district that she represents.  Bachmannites.

See, these people are determined to impose their narrow-minded beliefs and destructive bigotry on the entire country.  It's totally ok if they are against homosexuality, gay marriages, or sanity.  That's their constitutional right.  For them to attempt to force their opinions, their intolerance, their hatred down the throats of an entire nation is morally wrong.  Beyond that, it adds to the feeling of despair felt by millions of vulnerable LGBT youth from sea to shining sea.  And, that is one of the factors driving the increase in gay teen suicides.  The good news is that it's a factor that can be minimized.  There is power in numbers.

People are joining together in record numbers, all in support of the same cause:  to end inequality and hatred towards the LGBT community.  Straights and gays alike are letting their voices be heard:  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  "Wipeout Homophobia on Facebook" is approaching 300,000 members;  "STOP Teenage Suicide" has more than 25,000 people involved;  "ABC: Anti-Bullying Coalition" and "The Equality Mantra" are both over 12,000; you get the point.  We need the numbers to continue to increase.  But, it can't stop there!  We need people to stay plugged in and involved.  The ONLY way we're going to create the change we're seeking is to continuously, and loudly!, let our voice be heard, our presence felt.  Our voices must be loud enough to drown out the boisterous rants of a Michele Bachmann, a Rev. Ken Hutcherson, and the Tennessee lawmakers.  It is the people of this ilk who would rather see the LGBT population dead than become equal.  By extension, they couldn't care less about the LGBT teen who commits suicide!  Our presence must be made known.  There truly is power in numbers.  It doesn't matter if you're gay, straight, or asexual; black, white, or Venusian.  We all have the same goal:  equality.  That's the big umbrella that will help protect our LGBT teens from the storm of hatred we're witnessing today from our so-called leaders.