Conservative columnist whines about “bullying” of homophobic Christians by gay activists

Thanks to Shakesville, I ended up reading this article called “Eight Straight Suicides” by conservative writer Mike Adams at Townhall. I kind of wish I hadn’t. Adams begins:

“Officials on college campuses across the nation are alarmed at a wave of recent suicides involving Christians who have been harassed by homosexual activists. The main stream media isn’t covering the story so, as usual, I have taken it upon myself to do their jobs for them.”

He mentions a community college student who was shouted at for giving a speech about the impact of Jesus Christ in his life that cited the traditional Biblical definition of marriage. An administrator who was fired after writing an article letting “homosexuals know that there are ways to escape the lifestyle that ends their lives prematurely.” A counseling student who was expelled after refusing to help a gay client because of “her beliefs about homosexuality.”

The list goes on. And apparently all these homophobic Christians felt so attacked for their beliefs that they committed suicide…except—SURPRISE—not really! It turns out Adams was just kidding about that last part to make some sort of stupid, offensive point. (In fact, these folks are actually doing just fine.) Adams concludes:

“These eight cases are all true except for one thing: The Christians who were bullied by gays and gay activists are all still alive. Not a single one has committed suicide. That is because they have centered their lives around Jesus Christ, rather than their sexual identity. And no amount of bullying can change my mind about that.”

It’s amazing that such a short paragraph can pack such a hateful punch.

First, it takes a special kind of monster to suggest, in the wake of so many tragic suicides by LGBT youth, that these kids ended their lives because they were weak—unlike their Christian counterparts who, as Melissa says, are apparently “inherently better people, stronger, blessed.”

Second, it’s incredible that Adams implies these LGBT youth have been driven to suicide because they “centered their lives around…their sexual identity.” As if it isn’t the gay bashers and bullies who obsess over other people’s sexual orientation, who are so weirdly preoccupied with policing sexuality, who harass not only the kids who are gay but also the ones who seem gay. It’s people like Mike Adams—folks whose lives seem to be centered not around Jesus Christ or around their own sexuality but around the sexuality of others—who robbed 13-year-olds like Asher Brown and Seth Walsh of the chance to grow up and explore their identities–sexual and otherwise–themselves.

Finally, equating the so-called “bullying” that homophobic, straight, Christians sometimes experience when they say ignorant shit and other people tell them to shut up with the bullying that LGBT kids face every day in this homophobic culture because of who they are is just laughable. Sure, homophobes get to voice their views, but that doesn’t mean they have a right to have those views respected. And it certainly doesn’t mean there’s some moral equivalence between the pain of being harassed, bullied, and shamed by bigots and the pain of being called a bigot. Cry me a fucking river, Mike Adams.

And now if you need some cheering up (I know I do) go watch President Obama’s “It Gets Better” message.