View Points by Dr. T
Gay Pride is dangerous
Almost exactly one year to the day that nine African Americans were massacred in Charleston, viagra South Carolina at the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church while holding a bible study, forty-nine mostly black and brown people of Latin descent out for an evening of music, fun and dance were massacred in Orlando, Florida at the PULSE Night Club. PULSE is a club that is patronized by the LGBT (Q) community and friends of that community. The most recent incident in Orlando was first described by many news outlets as an act of terrorism, but was quickly re-characterized as an act of radical Islamic terrorism when the perpetrator called into 911 and pledged his allegiance to Isis. All of a sudden, the focus shifted from the specific crime of fanatical homophobic hatred and terrorism to the more recognized meme of Anti-American terrorism encapsulated within the concept of Radical Islamic Terrorism. Why? What agenda does it serve when the focus is shifted from homophobia and terrorism to Radical Islam and terrorism?Did we call it “radical Christianity” when Dylann Roof plotted to kill Black Americans and start a race war by carrying out a murderous killing spree at the Black church in Charleston? Did we call it “radical Christianity” when Warren Jeffs, the former President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and his followers were convicted of the rape and the sexual abuse of numerous women? Warren is currently serving a sentence of life, plus 20 years. In each case, these men were held individually responsible for their actions – not their religion or associations.
There is an obsession with using the term “radical Islam” in the media and amongst the political power brokers (particularly on the right). This is an attempt to demonize a religion and justify the mistreatment of those who adhere to that religion. A man who was born and raised in America did the act of terrorism and murder that took the lives of 49 people at the Pulse Night Club. He most probably had serious mental health issues and easy access to high-powered weaponry, not unlike the American men who terrorized and murdered innocent people in South Carolina, Sandy Hook, Aurora and Columbine. The Orlando killer was an American who killed people because they were gay or associated with the LGBT (Q) community. He was acting on his own and not as a coordinated effort by a radical Islamic terrorist group. His motivation was homophobia and he used religion to justify his terror, confusion, and hatred in a way that has become more and more a part of the “American” cultural continuum. Mass shootings happen in this country more than any other country on earth.
Sexuality and gender identity are topics that have moved from the margins to the center of our socio-political discourse like never before in our nation’s history. We are now on the threshold of a cultural revolution that will profoundly transform us as a people and as a nation. Change has always been 
difficult and is, continually, met with opposition and many times with violence. In this country, we are guaranteed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And yet, it is still dangerous to be gay in America and, until we
face the legacy of homophobia in this country and the active hatred we allow to exist against the LGBT (Q) community, both systemically and nonchalantly, we cannot truly celebrate our freedom as Americans. Until we reject the scapegoating of an entire religious group and stop shifting focus to an extremist cult outside of America as the main source and focus of our collective and individual homophobic hatred, we cannot begin to fulfill the promise of the nation we are destined to be. All Americans regardless of who we choose to love, or how we identify ourselves make up the America we want to celebrate. Gay Pride should not be dangerous. Gay Pride is American Pride.
Up Next Week: Tighten Your Seat Belt Folks!
