Reply #18: I think anyone who is dismissive of the LGTB community [View All]

[percussivemadness]

needs to get a reality injection. Whilst not generalising, unlike the atrocities committed against the "black" community, the vast majority of gay people I know tend to be white, middle class and inherently decent people. It is easy for the straight community to support civil rights for the "black" community, because they aren`t perceived to be like us (stupid as that sentence may first appear). However people need to learn their history. In Nazi Germany, one of Hitler`s first targets was the gay community with the infamous paragraph 175 in 1935. Why does this matter? I remember studying a book for my German A-Level, called Der Jude, a brilliant piece of work where the author demonstrates how the alienation of a people doesn`t necessarily start with the obvious demonisation. By depriving the LGBT community of a basic human right, by appointing to an inauguration a person who supports that, society in effect is condoning the creation of a second class citizenry. This leads to a very slippery slope.

Bob Marley once said, "the colour of a mans skin has no more importance than the colour of his eyes", the same can be applied to sexuality. However, and what the numerous straight community appeasers of Obama`s decision forget is, that by allowing the definition of society by classification of "sexual preference", something that we all partake in, we are on a dangerous road to puritanism and fundamental theocracy. The path is there for all to see. First its the LGBT community, next it will be the straight people who choose not to get married at all, next it will be the divorced people. By drawing this distinction time and time again, we eventually get a population of "good nazis", and again, history shows us what happens next.

Diversity needs to be celebrated, fundamentalist bigotry needs to be ostracized, the line in the sand has been drawn, irrespective of whether you like Obama or not (I still support him, but with a lot more trepidation than I previously had), this is not an issue that can be compromised on IMHO