Tales From Definitely-Not-BigotLand

Chairm, a blogger at the single-issue anti-equality blog Opine Editorials, has apparently started a new literary series. The point of his short stories, he explains, is to provide "a composite portrayal of numerous real encounters with proponents of the SSM idea."

To decipher this Chairm-speak, what he seems to be saying is that he's going to start blogging about his "real life" interactions with people who support marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Thusly, he begins Chapter 1:

"'Bigot!'

'Pardon me?'

'You heard me. You bigot.'

'No, I meant what did you say before that?'

The young man blinked and helpfully recounted, 'Before I called you a Bigot? Well, I said that it is wrong to discriminate and you hate me just because I'm gay.'

'I don't know you well enough to feel strongly about you one way or another.'"

Okay wait wait wait a sec. Hold on.

Where exactly is this particular interaction occurring? I mean, context matters. So, where is this scene happening? At a party? In the office? A gay pride parade? A same-sex marriage? A protest?

Did a gay man spontaneously spring forth from the aether right in front of Chairm and start exclaiming "Bigot!" for No Reason At All?

Who knows? Who cares!

See, after several back-and-forths of Chairm presenting himself as Kind And Patient Socratic Question Master, while presenting Gay Guy From The Aether as the Real Bigot, he ends:

"I sat quietly for a moment. He had stepped closer and now stood over me waiting uncertainly. I leaned forward and looked up into his pained eyes. Slowly I offerred him my hand.

[To be continued]."

Oh. Please do!

LOLOLOL. (And please tell me that the "stood over me waiting uncertainly" bit is foreshadowing for some sexy sexy homofuntimes!)

Better yet, can I try to guess what happens next?

Let's see, I predict an ending like this:

I sat quietly for a moment. He had stepped closer and now stood over me waiting uncertainly. I leaned forward and looked up into his pained eyes. Slowly I offered him my hand..... and gave the homosexual a brochure I have promoted and defended on my anti-equality blog, authored by a group called Mass Resistance, entitled: "What same-sex 'marriage' has done to Massachusetts: It's far worse than most people realize."

"What is this?" the homosexual asked.

The homosexual began perusing the brochure and reading aloud from it: "Same-sex marriage 'has become a hammer to force the acceptance and normalization of homosexuality on everyone'? 'Homosexual marriage' causes HIV/AIDS rates to increase? 'Given the extreme dysfunctional nature of homosexual relationships..."?

I nod. "See, I'm not a bigot. Just a concerned citizen and public health advocate."

"You can't be serious? You don't see how pieces like this are..... problematic?" the homosexual asked.

I sighed. This is what the homosexualists do, you see. Get all emotional, huff-and-puff, and start to call us names.

"Now now," I said, wagging my finger at him. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" said the homosexual, his voice strained. "This brochure is literally saying my relationship has an 'extreme dysfunctional nature.' That is really bigoted and anti-gay."

Heh. See what I mean?

"I'm not even affiliated with Mass Resistance?" I informed the homosexual.

"But you are promoting their work and, therefore, spreading the hateful things they say about same-sex relationships," the homosexual said.

"You're having difficulty understanding that we're not bigots because you get too emotional about this," I informed the homosexual. "I suggest you take some time to cool off and re-think the marriage idea."

The homosexual vanished into the thin air from whence he came.

In the span of an hour I then proceeded to write 23 comments, 5 blogposts, and another 'real-life' narrative about what bigots same-sex marriage supporters are. Because that's what non-bigots do.

You think that's how it went?

I mean, if Chairm wants to play "people on the other side of this issue are mean to me and I'm a paragon of peace and love," we can play all day.

But, of course, we won't. Getting some opponents of equality to acknowledge the fact that some people, perhaps even themselves, harbor anti-LGBT bigotry is like pulling teeth. The new politically-correct truth among many "marriage defenders" is that bigotry against LGBT simply doesn't exist anymore and that the real bigotry that's occurring these days is against people like them- opponents of same-sex marriage, who have to endure the cruel viciousness of people thinking they're bigots.

It's a strategy shift.

As poll numbers continue to indicate increasing support for marriage equality, I have seen an increase in this "All they do is call us bigots and that makes them bigots" meme perpetuated by those who oppose equality.

Some people seem to possess the self-centered conviction that the entire marriage equality movement is actually a concerted plot to defame supporters of "traditional marriage" and that we have no good, reasoned, or logical reasons for supporting marriage equality or for thinking that some people might actually be bigots.

At the same time, I do see the meme as a telling admission that, at best, one isn't paying close attention to the debate one devotes one's entire livelihood or Internet presence to. At worst, it suggests that "marriage defenders" are adapting to a cultural environment where explicit homo-bigotry is less acceptable. They therefore use people's intolerance of bigotry and turn it into a twisted game of "you're a bigot for calling out my bigotry" gotcha.

It's kind of like how in the 2008 presidential election, many Republicans put forth the meme that "all Democrats do is call critics of Obama racist." As though Obama supporters had no good, logical, or sound reasons to oppose McCain/Palin, so we had to resort solely to "name-calling."

LOL. Sure.

In my experience, most of the bloggers at Opine Editorials tend to be unable or unwilling to concede any point, no matter how small or tangential. As though the pyramid of uncritical assumptions about gender and sexual orientation upon which their "marriage defense" position is built will utterly collapse if they admit that we maybe, just maybe, we have one or two good arguments on our side. Or that, we actually do make arguments that don't involve calling people bigots. Or, that sometimes people actually are bigots and actually do dislike gay people.

It's simply why I can't take these people seriously.

I tried. I really did. But at some point you just have to shake your head, smile, and write silly endings to their Deeply Profound Narratives About The Political Landscape.