Embrace The Strange

 Why would I want to have a discussion about gender dysphoria with someone who doesn't believe that climate change is real? Why would I want to talk with someone about LGBTQ+ rights who also believes that "slavery wasn't so bad, really." Why would I engage in any debate about freedoms with someone who sees Donald Trump as a victim of persecution? Why would I want to speak about anything with anyone who is afraid of pronouns? 

It has begun to weigh more and more heavily on me just how hard conservatives are pushing back against all things that skew left of the line they have drawn in the sand. Never mind that this line seems to have been drawn in a circle around values that were fashionable back in the late fifties. Never mind that most of these attitudes completely ignore the strides made in all manner of civil rights, science and common sense. These heathens are going to go back to the closet on their own. They're going to need to be corralled there through legislation designed to keep them there. 

Where they belong?

Or maybe there's that fear factor, once again rearing its head and upsetting what all those straitlaced individuals. Of course, they don't seem to exist long outside of their packs. When strays show up on social media they are abruptly ridiculed and taken to task for their moral ineptitude. Instead, they thrive in those homogenous rally-size herds, feeding off the nonsense spouted by their leaders. Those same leaders who seem to be finding ways to repackage hate and intolerance into bite-size nuggets for the masses, with an eye toward groups that have already been historically minimalized and have only recently begun to find their way in our land of the free. It should be pointed out here that this is not brave behavior. This is the work of bullies. Imperfect souls looking to boost their self esteem by denigrating others. 

How do they do this? By leaning on others' fears and weaknesses. Things we don't understand are the easiest things to do without. The Cold War was fought before there was an Internet and cell phones. Carrying on a hate relationship requires that you don't know anything about the individuals on the other side of the curtain, be it iron or rainbow. Allowing any of these individuals to take up space in our minds, our schools, our churches, our lives makes them real and they can no longer simply be wished away. Or legislated into non-existence. 

It breaks my heart to see that there are so many Americans who are willing to reignite the fires of hate and fear because they imagine that their lives are somehow made less great, or that they country is not as cool as a red baseball cap because there are drag queens and transgender humans. America works best when it works for everyone. Everywhere. All at once. All the time.