And I’m dancing with the freaks now
I'm havin’, I’m havin’ so much fun
What you sow is what you reap now
I’ll do my dance with everyone
[...]
Don’t let them tell you who you are is not enough
Don’t let them tell you that it’s wrong
Or that you won’t find love...
-George Michael, An easier Affair
We have celebrated Gay Pride Day recently. I don't belong to the gay community, but I don't think that really matters; I have always felt different and suffered because of it, well ,suffered until recently, when I decided that, right or wrong, this was me. And you'd be surprised how much the respect of those around you heightens when you make that choice. You'll always find the stupid fools who will attack you , but that's not your fault that there are people who need to attack the difference to feel better...They have the problem, not you.
Yes, this I just said is a cliché, but this cliché hides the real danger society should fear...instead of fearing difference. A mum shouldn't worry about his boy or girl being homosexual and not forming a traditional family; she should worry because there are boys and girls who feel justified in bullying schoolmates because they are gays, there are skinheads and hooligans beating gays in the streets, and politicians and priests protesting because gay couples are given the same treatment as heterosexual ones and demonstrating against this in a way domestic violence, war or hunger will never move them to do; in one word, a mother shouldn't worry about her child being different, she should worry because the others believe different equals wrong.
This is the belief that lies at the bottom of fanatic terrorism. This is the belief that induces people to exterminate whole ethnic groups. This is the belief that undermines racism, classism and almost any kind of discrimination. This is the belief that justifies school bullying, discrimination at work,homophobia...even bad manners!!People complain of the lack of manners today, and they attribute them to "excessive freedom". Now that they'll tell you about their concept of freedom. Genuine manners (not ceremonious ones, but the natural kind like saying please, thank you and respecting the other's space) are born from a genuine respect of the other,from believing the other deserves respect in the same way I do. But young people today, supposedly growing up in a liberal world, are educated in a "me me me" -centered way-meaning that people who are poorer, darker, or just different, make them feel bad and uncomfortable, specially since Mum and Dad never taught them that freedom is not "I do but I want" but , paraphrasing the Wiccan Rede, "I do what I want, as long as I don't hurt anybody". For these spoiled kids, difference is a crime, and they'll bully whoever is different, and sadly, their parents will back them up no matter what they do.
This is the real danger.
Will you wait until they come for YOU?
