Serious Watson Business

“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.”

- James Madison, Amendments Offered in Congress (June 8th, 1789) [Source]

Hello world: I’m bisexual

It’s LGBT Pride month, and I promised myself that before this month is over, I would “come clean” with y’all.

Internet, I’m bisexual.

Before we get into the details, here are a couple of fantastic comics about bisexuality and sexual orientation by the amazing and wonderful Kate Leth that I’d love you all to read.

You can read more of Kate’s great comics (including Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of her bisexuality series) at her website, Kate Or Die! Comics, or on her Tumblr.

Now, back to the “whole bi thing”:

I realized I liked girls (you know, in that way) when I was 14 or 15 years old. And I have to admit: it scared the crap out of me. I was terrified that I was gay. Which is odd really, considering that I grew up in a very gay friendly community, and never heard so much as a peep of homophobia from my family, my friends, or our general circle of acquaintances. But for some reason, I felt this horrible sinking sensation in my stomach every time I thought about it. Maybe it was part of that general teenage desire to conform, to fit in (even though my friends were largely comprised of geeks and nerds and we never regarded ourselves as “normal”). I honestly couldn’t tell you what I was so scared of. So I shoved those feelings aside, and tried to ignore them every time I developed a crush on a girl, or thought “wow, she’s HOT”. It was fairly easy to do, especially since I was genuinely attracted to men too.

It’s taken me about 13 years to fully come to terms with my sexual identity. I came out to my husband a couple of years ago (who was wonderful and supportive about it), and have been slowly coming out to a few close friends. Over the last year, I’ve been frequently going back and forth about whether I should come out publicly or not. What if people judged me? What if they didn’t believe me, or thought I was doing it just to get attention? Honestly, it would be very easy for me to stay in the closet for the rest of my life. I’m in a stable, long-term heterosexual relationship, and will likely never have to “deal” with dating women. So why come out at all?

Well, first and foremost, I’m tired of hiding this part of my identity. I feel like I can’t be totally honest about who I am, and that really bothers me.

I’m also tired of hearing the highly common myth that bisexuals don’t exist. This is known as the Bisexual Erasure phenomenon. Coming out like this is my way of refuting that myth, by sticking my hand up and saying “Yes, bisexuals do exist, and I am one.”

Lastly and most importantly, writing this post and saying to the world that I’m bi is the last step in showing to myself that I am comfortable with, and fully accept, my sexual identity. It’s a way of telling myself “this is okay, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” 

I’m a taco, y’all. I’m the best taco!

FYI: you can buy a variation of this shirt at Kate’s store at Topatoco.com.

JCPenny, you’re doing it right

In contrast to the horrible from earlier today, check out this fantastic Father’s Day ad from JCPenny featuring two real life, non-demonic gay dads:

Read the whole deal at Joe. My. God.

Apostolic Truth Tabernacle stomps over the line of human decency

After watching this hateful video, recorded at the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle in Indiana, I feel so much rage that I’m about ready to explode. If you haven’t seen it: 

I wasn’t able to make it past the 0:23 mark (right about when the crowd starts cheering). Even though religious hatred towards the LGBT community is nothing new, this here is a new level of awful. There’s few things that will make my rage face explode more than using some poor kid, who’s too young to know what he’s saying, as a mouthpiece for intolerance and hatred. God help the poor kid if he turns out to be gay. God help his friends if any of THEM turn out to be gay.

I actually wrote the ATT an e-mail (using their online contact form) after encouragement from Dan Savage on the Slog. Here’s what I had to say:

Dear sir or madam,

I recently viewed this video from your church: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iRNbC-aSFLc

I am shocked and appalled that you allow this conduct to go on in your church. You are spreading hate and intolerance with these actions. What’s even worse is that you’re sending the poor gay kids in your community - kids who never chose to be the way they are, and have done nothing and WILL do nothing to hurt you - a very clear message: you’re going to hell, and we couldn’t be happier about that.

I cannot believe that followers of Christ would allow such awful things to be said and celebrated in God’s house. Jesus preached tolerance and compassion. What’s in that video isn’t spreading the word and love of God, it’s preaching hate and loathing to a group of people who are in no way a threat to your, your congregation, or the word of God. 

You’re giving Christians everywhere a bad name with your intolerance and bigotry. You should be ashamed of your conduct, and you should know that good Christians are feeling ashamed to be affiliated with you. May God have mercy on your souls.

I encourage you all to do the same.

And to be clear, I don’t have a problem with Christians, or religious folks in general. I have a problem with bigots and assholes using their faith as a shield for their intolerance and hatred. 

/rant