Don't Hate

Hate. It is a very strong, ugly word. I was raised to say "I dislike" something instead of saying, "I hate" something. It has a bad vibe to it. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth after you utter it. I still try to refrain from using it.

However, as the non-debate for equal right for GLBT persons as trudged on, the word does seem to be the only descriptive that aptly applies. There was a time, I recall, when having someone tolerate me was okay. I saw it as comprise. They didn't have to like me. They still don't. Surprisingly, there are people and behaviors I don't like. I tolerate it.

The problem is, while I tolerate people and behaviors I don't like or even understand, I have never thought that person to be less than a human being' a person deserving of respect, dignity, equality, or protection. I never "hated" them because of their difference. Never wished them harm in any way. I never tried to tell them they were"wrong" for behaving or believing differently than me. I never tried to pass laws that would make them less than me. I never tried to stop them from serving their country if they chose to. I never protested their funerals, or boycotted businesses thta believed as they did. I never told them they were abominations, they were morally corrupt, they were responsible for the evils of the world. I just let them be and stayed out of their way, to live their life as they saw fit.

Now, I'm beginning to feel something I don't like. I'm being to feel anger and resentment. I'm beginning to feel animosity toward some of these people that believe and behave differently than me. I still see the human being behind it. I have lost respect for them. I've lost tolerance for them. I'm now beginning to "hate" them. I don't like that. That wasn't the way I was raised .

Maybe the problem was tolerance. You tolerate a cold and do your best to rid yourself of it. It seems like the same behavior toward the GLBT community. We were tolerated, but since we became stronger, and have not faded into the background, some folks want to be rid of us and by any means necessary. The converse is true here as well. The GLBT community tolerated people hating us, treating us as less than, denying us our rights, and yes, even murdering us. We never pushed back with the same force as was used against us. We were tolerate and patient.

Now comes the time to change that. We have it within our means to seize what is deservedly ours. We don't have to yell louder than the other guy. We don't have to lie about the other guy. We just speak the truth. We expose the truth. We repeat the truth. We fight back with truth. It beats, hands down, anything the "tolerate" people can do. After all, I don't want to hate people. I want everyone to get along. I want to be left alone, unimpeded to live my life just as everyone else. Nothing more. Nothing less. Don't make me a hater too.