Senseless

I had literally written an entire post for today, and then ended up deleting the entire thing. Perhaps it was Facebook's Safety Check sending my 30th update of the day as my friends checked in one by one to say that it was ok. Maybe it was Donald Trump's celebratory tweet, or maybe it was the incredibly thoughtful posts that so many of my friends, both within the LGBT community and without have been spreading around. Likely it was a great combination of these things that made me feel that my thoughts were too clinical, and in some ways far too nice.

I am tired of these tragedies. This one hit closer to home for me than anything since 9/11. People are calling this attack senseless. It's a phrase thrown around a lot, and seems so full of sympathy. "This was simply senseless." This shooting was tragic, but it wasn't senseless. In fact for us to say it's senseless belies the truth of the situation. The truth in which too many people in this country have said "this is ok."

This shooting was a targeted attack. It was both an act of terror and an act of hate. This man came into a space that for so many people was one of the only places they felt free and safe to be themselves, and he deliberately attacked them. Over 100 people were attacked by this man. It wasn't a crime of passion, it wasn't in the heat of the moment. It wasn't senseless. He knew exactly what he was doing, and what he'd hoped to accomplish. And he did it well.

The main problem is that in many ways, what he did was ok to a lot of people. Look at the Lt. Governor's tweet about us reaping what we sow. Trump's call for more anti-Islam hate. Hell look a bit closer to home, where the Governor of Florida had signed into law a bill that stripped all adoption rights from LGBT individuals, because they "weren't fit to be parents."

When our elected officials are allowed to do things like this, they are being allowed to set the stage for what just happened. You can't constantly say that someone is less than someone else without also diminishing their basic humanity. I'm sure that Omar (the suspected shooter) didn't feel like he was killing real people. He'd been led to believe in his hate, that they were something else, they were "the enemy." This happened to the LGBT community. But we set the stage for it to happen to a lot of different people. Being different can't be equated with being lesser. One religion isn't right or wrong. One race isn't good or evil.

This Presidential election season has shown that we allow our hatred for things different to run deeply. So few people were able to converse about facts and issues without demonizing the opposition. Sometimes violence occurred. In terrifying instances, it was encouraged. Candidates were not called on just their issues, but who they were. Their sex, their age, their families. It's all the same thing. Anytime we allow someone to be cast as something less than equal, we open the floodgates, and I want to see them slammed shut.

I am overwhelmed at the support and emotional posts that people are spreading, and I hope to see them continue. I hope that as this news cycle ends and this terrible story starts to fade into the background, that we can continue to support ideals of hope and humanity instead of divisiveness and hate. Maybe then we can have less of these acts that we have to claim are so senseless to make ourselves feel better.

Acting on politics

Well, I have just gotten back from St. Louis where I attended the HRC Gala Dinner and a brunch. As always, I come back with a renewed sense of energy from being around people who are truly working to make a difference. I sometimes forget how nice it is to have discourse over the challenges that are facing our community, country, and world, and being reminded of it certainly puts me in a good frame of mind.

This trip was exceptionally energizing, partially because I was able to have more intimate conversations with people. Although we were all there in support of the HRC the things that we discussed covered a much broader spectrum. I think that once a person takes it upon themselves to make a difference in one area, it is a lot easier for them to realize what's going on in the other areas of their life. Unfortunately I don't think that enough people take this initial step, and as such, a few individuals are carrying a large portion of the weight of making change. Even voting seems beyond the capabilities of so many people, and then of course there are those that vote with only half the information that they really need.

One of my friends remarked that this year has really opened their eyes as to how easy it is to be led by politicians and the media. When having discussions, people will regurgitate opinions that aren't there own simply because they had heard them elsewhere. It's aggravating to me because so often there is little research as to what exactly the statement that they are making really means.

As you saw at the opening of this entry, I watched The American President. I really enjoyed that movie, even though in some ways it seemed a bit of a stretch, but the message was really good. Without going into too much detail, the President (Michael Douglas) starts going out with a girl, and his opponent makes it into this big smear campaign. He takes little truths, and blows them out of proportion, trying to enrage the average American.

When I saw this scenario, I almost laughed. I wish that I could write down Douglas's final speech word for word because he retaliates in a way that I can't do justice to. His basic argument was that people who resort to fear tactics do so because they can't actually talk about anything important. The people who use fear and anger to run campaigns are doing so because they want to win. These people aren't there for us. Once, Mel Carnahan (former Governor of MO) was talking and he went on at great length about how being in office wasn't a job, and certainly not a career; being in office was a tour of duty. It was a time when you give up a part of yourself to do something for the people that you serve. He talked about civil service, and how that is what politics really is, or should be. The people that lead us are there for us. Once again in the movie, Michael J Fox played a policy advisor who went off on the President, and when called on it, he said something to the effect that he had every right to question him, not because he was an advisor, but because he was a citizen, and it was our right and our duty to question our leaders.

I truly hope to see more people become involved in the world. For all its horrible implications, this election has registered a record number of voters. It is my hope that maybe some of these people are starting to see the problems with what's going on in the world. As Douglas said, "This country has a lot of problems." I want to see people go out there and support politicians who are actually going to fix these problems. So many times I read about bills that baffle me. What do they really do to solve the problems? Democrats are notorious for settling; spending money, but not doing enough or in the right way to fix the problem, and Republicans seem to overload there senses with money and religion that they can't get to the problem either.

I am tired of seeing bills like business bill that came out of congress just a short time ago that gave so much away, mostly with pork-barrelling, but didn't solve any of the economic problems we have in this country, and yet so many people applauded the effort.

In the last month, I have attended more political and charity events than I have in the last year, and it has given me great hope, and a greater energy. I talk to these people who are starting to see clarity in the problems around, and they are trying to find solutions. This is what our country needs. Politicians won't change if citizens don't make them. We all have the ability to do more. We all can fight for more than we do, but it seems that we let things get in the way. It is my belief that it is our duty to pay attention. We have a lot of freedom, but we let so much of it go to waste, and even risk losing it by our inaction. I have determined not to let that happen where I am concerned and I hope that the people that know me and listen to me come away with the same kind of feeling. Taking a stand is never a bad thing, so long as you believe in what you fight for. Even when I am in disagreement with those who are behind what they believe, I can respect them. I urge everyone to make thier own stand and use whatever they have, be it their voice, their dollar, or their time. Make a difference. If we won't how can we expect the world to ever change?