Shocker: People Hating On Gays Make Us Feel Bad!

A slew of new studies have been released showing that, in fact, anti-gay measures such as marriage equality bans have strong, negative impact on the lives of LGBT people. Who woulda thunk that?

In one study, the researchers analyzed people living in states that had just recently passed legislation enshrining second-class citizenship into their constitutions. According to the researcher:

“The results of this study demonstrate that living in a state that has just passed a marriage amendment is associated with higher levels of psychological stress for lesbian, gay and bisexual citizens,” Rostosky said.

“And this stress is not due to other pre-existing conditions or factors; it is a direct result of the negative images and messages associated with the ballot campaign and the passage of the amendment.”

Two more studies were more qualitative, gathering information on how people feel and react to the measures more than the strictly quantitative study above:

Participants reported feeling not just alienated from their communities, but fearful that they would lose their children, that they would become victims of anti-gay violence or that they would need to move to a more accepting community. Some of these anxieties were mitigated by social support.

For instance, one interviewee said he became “petrified …of being raped or roughed up or killed, you know, for doing nothing, basically. I worry about being picked out as a gay guy because my mannerisms are not entirely masculine.” Another said the marriage amendment supporters were using the Bible “like a brick on us. They are beating us with it.”

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“Some participants identified so deeply with their family member’s experience that they felt equally attacked by these movements and policies,” the researchers wrote. “They considered themselves members of the LGBT community and experienced rejection by others for being a GLBT family member.”

Oddly enough, it appears that when you bash a minority group and tell them over and over again that they are not worthy of the same CIVIL RIGHTS that you have, you're going to inflict psychological harm on that community.

This is the same community that has a drastically higher teenage suicide rate related directly to pressures of the culture to not be gay (read: over tones of the predominantly anti-gay Christian culture). Now toss on to the fire that we are not going to be allowed to marry even when we finally find love in this world. Do you wonder now why we are angry and protesting in streets? Do you wonder now why we are fighting so hard for acceptance and equality? Do you wonder why I hate anyone or anything that espouses anti-gay bigotry under any guise or umbrella?

This is the reality that many people do not get. This is about more than just rights, its about survival. The Christian right continues to fight to impose their worldview on the rest of the country, and while I feel that they should have their right to believe in their particular brand of hocus-pocus magic, I profoundly disagree with their attempts to rule my life from the pulpit.

We cannot allow ourselves to be beaten even one more time. We are not subpar, we are not imperfect, we are not below anyone else. We are beautiful and wonderful. So don't let these measures get you down. Take that sadness and turn it into righteous anger and action. Fight back! Tell them we cannot accept refusal any longer!