Buttars and another rant

Chris Buttars is a douche. No, it's not polite to call people names. He's behaving like a paranoid infant with too much time on his hands. Someone in the Utah State Legislature should give him something to do. As it is, he's busy protecting traditional families from his own equivalent of radical Muslim druggie prostitutes: homosexuals. (No doubt he meant to offend the radical Muslim druggie prostitutes when he compared them to gays.)

His latest diatribe appeared on ABC 4 a couple nights back and garnered a lot of media attention. (Here's a link.) I'm frustrated. I've tried to be nice, and this blog has been a great place to vent, but as I recently said, I simply don't know that I care about being nice anymore.

The thing is, given the zeal with which Chris Buttars and Gayle Ruzicka (et al) pursue their anti-gay agenda, I've started losing my tolerance for differing viewpoints. I like to think of myself as level-headed and tolerant, but lately I've had a hard time getting beyond my anger at the lies and hypocrisy. It's so frustrating because everybody on both sides of the issue takes it so personally, when at the bottom of it all, it's just a tiny percentage of the population is actually affected. It's so infuriating! I want to shake my fist and say "If you don't like gay marriage, don't fu*king get gay married!" People are so worried that their way of life is being destroyed by some nebulous gay threat that they're willing to viciously trample the basic rights of their gay brothers and sisters.

"But if gays can share insurance coverage, what will I tell my children?" Okay, that's a little much. How 'bout, "But if gays can visit each other in the hospital, what will I tell my children?" Nope...still rings of the ridiculous. "If gays can be treated like human beings..." Laughable. "If homosexuality becomes widely accepted, what will I tell my children?" Frankly, I don't care...in an ideal world you would tell them it's perfectly okay, but since you won't say that, tell them whatever you want. Tell them gays are space aliens with impeccable taste. Or tell them nothing at all. Just don't stand in the way of fairness!

Buttars keeps claiming gays are asking for "special rights." That's bullshit. Political rhetoric pandering to the uninformed, nothing more. Frankly, I think every gay employer or landlord should fire their straight employees and evict their straight tenants. See how that feels. If sexual orientation isn't a class protected from discrimination, then if I were a gay landlord or employer, I think I'd be entitled to discriminate based on the fact that people are filthy "breeders." I certainly wouldn't want heterosexual perversions happening in a residential property I own. Goodness knows, I would lie awake night thinking about the disgusting things they're doing in the privacy of their rented bedrooms. And those employees who openly flaunt their heterosexuality in my place of business don't deserve the right to their perverse self-expression, much less their privacy. I've got a reputation to maintain! I don't want my good name associated with that kind of debauchery. So the moment I found out, they'd be out on their pervert asses.

Does ANY of this make sense? At all? When did protection from arbitrary eviction or employment termination become a "special right?" Spousal insurance benefits, wrongful death compensation, hospital visitation rights...how the hell are any of these "special rights?" Under current Utah law, I can be fired or evicted not based on actions, but based solely on who I am. I could be a model employee and tenant, but none of that matters if my employer or landlord thinks I'm gay. I have no right to job security. I have no right to be judged based solely on my performance as an employee. The fact that someone suspects I might be gay is cause enough to end my employment and make me homeless. Does anyone still wonder why people are pissed?

The settling of the Salt Lake valley came about, in part, because of vicious religious persecution. The Mormons fled Illinois and Missouri for their lives. People openly challenged the validity of LDS marriages, and the infamous "Mormon Extermination Order" was on the books for nearly 150 years. The LDS people are no strangers to persecution. Yet so many good LDS people stand idly by while vocal religious zealots persecute an already maligned small segment of the population. I know there are good Mormons out there. I know this personally. Intensely compassionate, fair-minded individuals who helped shape my life into what it is today. People I'm profoundly grateful to every waking minute. So here are a couple things to think about:

1. If you're not gay, denying basic human rights to gays will most likely affect you MUCH more than extending extending them. Gays amount to 2-3% of the population. If all of them married, which they won't, it's still an almost negligible fraction of the population. And when basic human protections are extended to the gay population, your taxes won't change, your ability to marry and live your religion won't change, and contrary to popular belief your family won't crumble. But when we classify any group of people as second-class citizens by denying them equal recognition under the law, the door of discrimination gapes wider. And who knows, maybe someone who hates you might just draw up a constitutional amendment invalidating your family. So really, what's the consequence of supporting gay rights? Well, you may have to explain to your children why those two men are holding hands in the park or on TV. Trust me, it's not the most difficult conversation you'll have with your children. Besides, it's called PARENTING. You made the babies, be a parent!
2. If you simply sit by and let Chris Buttars and Gayle Ruzicka be the vocal spokespeople for the LDS views on gay rights, everybody in the world will think all Mormons are that repulsive. You're not. I know it because I know you. And you know I'm not a radical muslim druggie whore terrorist threat to anyones traditional family and society as we know it because you know me. So open your mouth! Tell your senator you think the words and actions Chris Buttars and Gayle Ruzicka are repugnant and that you don't support their hateful agendas. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper explaining how you're a good Mormon and some of your closest friends are gay and that you hope their families can enjoy the same legal protections yours does.

When it boils down to it, this issue IS about the destruction of families. But not your family. It's about the destruction of mine. That's all.

Lisa and I were discussing the situation today. Here’s what she said:

The thing that bothers me is it is the radicals, on both sides of this, that are being heard. Not the people who actually want to come to an agreement and understanding. It's not people like you or I. It's the people who can't see either side that are speaking for everyone. I can't stand that.
It's like when there is a national disaster or something tragic in the news...who does the news interview? The one moron who has nothing important to say and can't tell his ass from his head.

In the disaster that is the 2009 Utah legislative session, I take comfort in the mental image of Chris Buttars in ratty overalls acting out "the one moron who has nothing important to say and can't tell his ass from his head." (No offense to the good hillbillies of the world.)

So go back and listen to his interview with THAT in your head. It’s infinitely more entertaining.


P.S. A couple links:

The ABC 4 Article
The Salt Lake Tribune Article