Review of The Laramie Project (2002) by Steve R — 21 Oct 2006

I'm really tired of people saying, "It's okay to be gay as long as you don't rub it in my face." You know what? That means "It's okay to be gay as long as I don't have to know about it." I, personally, abhor public displays of affection (above a certain level, anyway) no matter the sex of the participants, but if you keep it below that level, I don't care. (Hugs are always okay. Hand-holding is okay. A kiss for greeting or goodbye. But I don't need to watch you make out or fondle each other. Don't need to hear about your sex life, either; I don't talk about mine to much of anyone, and then, it's mutual and short of details.).

My great aunt was a lesbian, of course, and I've known people of pretty much any position along the Sexual Spectrum, including a transgendered person and a guy that I didn't realize was male for pretty much literally months. I'm straight, mostly, but I wouldn't kick Tori Amos for one out of bed for eating crackers.

I don't think I need to see this movie again, but I'm very, very glad I saw it once. What I just learned by browsing the Wikipedia article is that he was exactly five days older than I--he was born 1 December, 1976, and I was born on the 6th. That makes it worse, somehow. He was my age; now, he's dead. Beaten and left for dead tied to a fence. No matter what you think of his sexuality, if you think that's right, there's something wrong with you. What Would Jesus Do? Not that.

Which is one of the things that makes me so angry at Fred Phelps. He had to know that he was causing great pain to the family, and he actually seemed to [i]revel[/i] in it. Way to spread the word of Jesus. Clearly, you've never really read the book. I'm with Jimmy Carter on this--what Jesus would actually do were He here today is work in an AIDS clinic somewhere, making suffering people better. That was what he did. What's more, He actively and visibly forgave people for their sins. The only time He gets really angry in any bit of the New Testament that makes sense (hence leaving out the other incident, the fig tree bit) is at men who are trying to make money in the house of the Lord. Televangelists, take note.

Peoples is peoples, as I think I've said before. (I love [i]The Muppets Take Manhattan[/i].) It doesn't matter if they're straight or gay. Heck, I've been hit on by lesbians, and it doesn't bother me. (It kind of bothers me that people thought Elaine and I were a couple, but that's because she's my sister, and that's gross.) They shouldn't die for it, even if I believed Matthew Shepard had hit on those men in the first place, which I don't.