I’ve always been a friend of the gay community.
I’ve had gay people in my life who were very important to me from an early age. Last month marked the 10 year anniversary of the death of my ‘Aunt Larry’ aka "Aunt Loretta".
I think about ‘Loretta’ often and I constantly find myself sharing stories about him. He helped make me the person I am today. For example, we’d have a word of the day each day that we would learn together and try to use more in everyday conversations.
Our last word of the day was ‘sojourn’, which is a short temporary visit. To use it in a sentence: "I personally cannot wait for Joe Biden’s sojourn at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to be over." I also possess more useless David Bowie facts than nearly anyone, because my Aunt Larry was a Bowie super fan.
Aunt Larry (L) and the late, great David Bowie
I often joke that "I’m a friend of a friend of Dorothy". You see, back in the 70’ & 80’s, nobody wanted to put up a sign that said ‘Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting Room B’ because of the stigma & embarrassment it could bring to the attendees. Instead they put up signs that read ‘Friends of Bill W Room B’ that was code to them that nobody else would pick up on. Bill W was the nickname for Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Seeing as how this tactic worked, gay support groups started putting out signs for ‘Friends of Dorothy’ as a code to one another and a tribute to universal gay icon Judy Garland’s most famous role.
So, as a straight man, I’m a friend of a friend of Dorothy. I even have my own drag name... Allbeef Patty (it's a joke, relax).
Over time I’ve been happy to see members of my political tribe become more accepting of gay & lesbian conservatives. Log Cabin Republicans seem to be thriving. Gay Patriot is one of the most popular conservative Twitter users who has a faithful following that locates him each time Twitter bans him. Gay Patriot gladly points out that no gay Americans were subject to electro shock therapy during the 4 years of Vice President Mike Pence. Not only that, gay marriage was never threatened during the 4 years of Trump’s term.
Social media has shown gays and straight’s alike that conservative gay folks don’t only exist, but that they’re hilarious and make wonderful allies in the political trenches of Twitter. Other gay conservatives to consider following on social media are former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, TownHall.com editor Guy Benson, conservative author Chad Felix Greene, and conservative activist/new voter recruiter Scott Presler.
I’ve always gotten along beautifully with the L’s, the G’s, and the B’s. It’s no secret that my favorite Democratic Senator, Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, belongs to the B’s.
Unfortunately I cannot say the same about the Q’s and the T’s. On social media, These are the folks who are making up genders faster than we can keep up with them, and dictating to the world what pronouns people are going to use when addressing them. They’re also the ones who completely lose their shit when states protect athletes who were born female from having their sports competitions hijacked by guys who now identify as female.
The biggest problem many people experience with the activist Q's and T's is that they tend to be absolutist. There is no middle ground, there is no room for discussion, there is no room for the possibility that maybe they don't have the whole world figured out.
If you disagree with them, it's because you're regressive and a bigot. If you voice your concerns, your words are LITERAL violence against Q's and T's. This type of discourse (or lack thereof) is harmful to society writ large, creates a chilling effect and . . . it's working. But I don't think it's necessarily representative of the LGBTQ "movement".
I know several gay people who are none too happy about being lumped in with the activist wing of the "movement". They don’t know how or when it happened, they only know that they were not asked about it. I’ve had dear friends get visibly upset with me because I implied that they were somehow affiliated with the Q’s and T’s. L’s, G’s, and B’s have voiced serious concerns that the Q’s and T’s are setting back a lot of LGB progress that has been made over the years. And that newest Pride flag? Lord have mercy! There is NO WAY ON EARTH a gay man was responsible for its most recent version. That pitiful thing has so much going on now that it should come with a seizure warning.
Someone needs to get with the Q’s and T’s and tell them they desperately need to revisit their marketing strategy. You catch more bees with honey than you do vinegar.
Also, the respect that they’re demanding from society is not passed out like pronouns and genders... respect is something that is earned. Transgendered Americans are part of the current Presidential administration, running for Governor of California as a Republican, and successful influencers on social media. Regardless of what you read on social media, America 2021 is a fairly open minded place. Our time on this planet is a short and temporary sojourn, don’t ruin yours by being bitter and angry throughout most of it.
Sincerely,
Allbeef Patty