I am sick about the news from Orlando this morning.
I am sick of living in a country that allows churches and mosques and temples to preach hate and remain subsidized by the state.
I am sick of “religious” folks promoting fear and hate and violence against LGBTQ folks under the guise of “religious freedom” and “freedom of speech” and claiming complete innocence when their views drive someone to kill 50+ people.
I am sick of politicians who use the LGBTQ community as a distraction and create non-issues about our threat when their supporters bomb bathrooms to “protect the children” and their supporters gun down dozens of people because they “were upset seeing two men kissing.”
I am sick of people who have one or two gay people in their lives but refuse to support rights and protections because their friends are “not like other gays.”
I am tired of gay pride events and bars being turned into marketing meccas for hardbodies and twinks and shaming anyone not perfectly, magazine-cover beautiful.
I am tired of being told “change is slow.” I know its slow. And I know this morning 50 more of my brothers and sisters are dead because we didn’t have the fucking political will to make change happen faster.
We can’t wait for change. We don’t have to wait for change. We need to end tax deductions to any institution that promotes hate. We need to silence politicians and remove them from their post when they use hate of the LGBTQ community to try and gain political points. We need to get rid of all guns used to hunt people. You don’t fucking hunt a deer with an AK or a handgun. You use them to kill people. And we need to demand that the FDA get rid of its unreasonable ban on gay blood.
It took bottle- and fist- throwing queens to start a revolution that is now marked by Gay Pride. Its time we say enough is enough. Our brothers and sisters started this fight more than a half-century ago. They started a fight. It is our turn to end it.