One of the greatest human fallacies is that progress is always a straight line and always unidirectional. Western civilization loves to applaud itself as always heading in the correct, progressive direction, that the children of tomorrow will always be freer and better off than their parents, that minorities of tomorrow will always be less oppressed than their predecessors. I’m here to tell you that it is all grade-A B.S., and it is dangerous to think otherwise.
But don’t take my word for it. As The Hill reports, “Pride Month celebrations across the country are playing out against a backdrop of growing threats to the LGBTQ community from conspiracy theorists and far-right extremist groups, and the results have already turned violent. … Baptist ministers in Idaho and Texas have gone viral in recent weeks for calling on the government to execute gay people. … ‘It’s all part of the same hard right authoritarian movement in the country,’ said Michael Edison Hayden, a senior investigative reporter at the Southern Poverty Law Center. ‘This synergy between social media culture and the mobilization of extremists is really scary, and it shows how easily it can spill over into something much bigger than’ the Jan. 6 insurrection. … The number of hate crimes specifically targeting LGBTQ people has risen in recent years, according to statistics published by the FBI. At an event at the White House last month marking International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, President Biden cited both the progress made in recent years and the ongoing violence.”
People may argue that there has always been and there will always be LGBTQ hate. Of course, that is weak reasoning. What matters today is that extremism and violence are becoming mainstream! Let me repeat myself: Hate and violence are becoming more mainstream. And as I have also said before, do not expect or trust straight friends, family, or the government will save the LGBTQ community. What happens when SCOTUS scuttles marriage equality? Then the gays go right back to being acceptable second-class citizens deserving of fewer and fewer rights because the judges of law have spoken! People eventually become cowed into believing whatever the power structure dictates. Look to Nazi Germany as an example. An entire nation was convinced to hate Jews or, at the very least, ignore what happened to them as they were literally stripped of their German citizenship. Don’t think that the LGBTQ community could not be next for a second! Wake the f*** up, morons! Only violence can counter violence! Arm up, people! SCOTUS is about to make that legal everywhere, too. And gays will be the new target practice! Mark my words!