The title is, admittedly, both provocative and lacking inclusivity, but it hopefully gathers enough attention for enough people to take a moment and read far enough to reflect further on the stupidity that is both 2020 and America writ large.
June is Pride month.
Thirty days, during which, endless parades and celebrations are held in honor of loving whoever you want, including yourself. While most of America views it as an LGBTQ-based celebration, it is both that and so much more. It is right and correct that we honor, preach, and celebrate tolerance and acceptance for a month, focused mainly on opening hearts and minds vis a vie the LGBTQ community. However, we shouldn’t lose focus of the very message that they, themselves, send each and every year, especially this year. It isn’t just about “let men love men,” and “accept the fact that some people are born the wrong gender.” If you’ve ever been to or watched a Pride event, you know that the main message is nothing more than I said earlier; let everyone love whoever they want. Love each other. Love yourself. Live and let live. These are powerful and necessary messages that we all need now more than ever.
To be crystal clear; I am not hijacking nor diminishing the importance of focusing on the LGBTQ community during Pride month. Just the opposite. In fact, I am incensed over their inability to spread their message in 2020 because it has the powerful potential to do even more than lift themselves up; it could lift an entire nation that is in tatters.
Ironically, right in the middle of Pride month is also “Loving Day.” June 12th is the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision known as Loving versus Virginia, which struck down all U.S. state laws banning interracial marriage, mainly those forbidding marriage between non-whites and whites. That’s right, just 53 years ago, less than a lifetime, my marriage was literally illegal in this country. How advanced of us.
As the country roils, protests, screams, riots, and demands changes within race relations specific to African Americans, we see the divisions growing by the minute. We’re forced to choose sides in an instant:
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- If you support law enforcement, you’re a racist
- If you support black people, you hate cops.
- If you say nothing, you’re a racist and a cop hater
Again, how advanced of us.
For three months, we were told to stay inside and we were threatened with everything from fines to incarceration if we dared to defy the order. We watched one of the greatest economies in the history of the world shatter before our eyes, and we were told it was necessary and worth it because the Coronavirus was so deadly and so dangerous that the lockdown was what had to be done. Even when we were slowly “allowed” to re-open what was left of our country, we were told we had to be painstakingly careful; keep away from each other, wear masks, put plastic between us, make stores look like barren wastelands by spreading everything out, and make sure you bleach your hands every 3 seconds.
And then came George Floyd. Millions of people took to the streets and ignored social distancing and mask wearing, and no one in authority said a word. Suddenly, assembling in not just large, but enormous groups, was not only tolerated but encouraged. Mere days earlier, if you had the audacity to peacefully assemble in favor of encouraging the nation to re-open you were not only branded a hateful militia, you were scolded for being a “granny killer.” Yet now, protesters were simply and politely asked to get tested.
Amidst all of this stands the stark reality of endless events, both indoor and outdoor, being cancelled under the guise of it being dangerous and ill-advised for large groups of people to congregate in close quarters. Marathons, all spectator sports, Broadway, comedy shows, concerts, 4th of July fireworks, graduation ceremonies, any thought of being in a nightclub, and endless funerals and church services were not just frowned upon but again threatened with the rule of law…and yet…if you stand 1 inch from another person and spew your droplets upon them shouting for justice for George Floyd…you are not only allowed, but encouraged to do so.
Meanwhile, the LGBTQ community, with their endless array of signs, floats, outfits, choreographed dances, and messages of inclusion are being told “no, you can’t go forward with your messages of peace and acceptance,” because it may infect the collective, but please, make sure that you support this other group that is insisting that America include them.
Where is the outrage?
The disgusting irony and hypocrisy are beyond just obvious, they’re insulting. But more than that they are indicative of this nation’s seemingly endless spiral into dissolution.
Not only does the LGBTQ community remain silent, but we all do. Somehow, we all watch millions of Americans behave like Corona never happened in the name of George Floyd, and yet none of us transfer that behavior anywhere else in our lives. We willingly stand in lines for hours to be “allowed” into retail stores. We wear masks because we’re told by experts we should, even though those same experts told us 2 months ago that masks were useless. We stand 6 feet away from each other and accept a miserably unpleasant experience every time we leave our homes, and yet we cheer those who do none of those things as they rally for racial equality.
What in the actual hell are we doing here?
Across the nation there has been no spike in Covid-19 cases anywhere protests have been held. NONE! Imagine that…in any given major city, tens of thousands of people screaming droplets onto one another and yet no surge in positive tests in any of those same areas…and yet, I can’t go to a baseball game with 60,000 other people.
The only thing more maddening than the illogic of it all is our complacent acceptance as a society. It’s disgusting and beyond cowardly; and that’s what America has become.
