The 11th Plague

Passover is a weeklong festival that we recall the exodus of the Jews from Egypt slavery and remember the famous event that took the nation by, well what else, storm. The ten plagues. You may know them as; blood, frogs, lice, flies, disease on livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the death of the first born. All of these events would be fatal and catastrophic if they infected our nation as a whole. But there is one plague that is not mentioned but is very relevant and affecting our nation in a very negative way; homophobia.

By definition homophobia is described as 'unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals and homosexuality'. By action it is seen as beatings, negative slurs, threats and/or discrimination. As all homosexuals, both lesbian and gay men, are susceptible to this hatred, transsexuals are targeted more frequently. As is shown by recent events on April 18th in Baltimore Maryland when Chrissy Polis was brutally attacked by a 14 year old and an 18 year old female in a McDonalds Restaurant. This infuriates me to the fullest because in 2007, a dear friend and old roommate Katrina was shot to death for being a transsexual. This homophobia, especially high in the south, needs to end and be obliterated. What shocks me next is the fact that a McDonalds employee stood by and videotaped it instead of helping, which I was told many employees cheered the girls on.

I blame the parents, fanatic churches who preach homosexuals a sin and society as a whole. If kids are taught to accept and coexist with everyone at an early age, there wouldn't be any type of hate crimes. It is like the time of segregation: the kids couldn't tell the difference between skin color until the parents told them it was not okay to play with the nigger child from Macon. There is no excuse for ignorance and death don’t cure stupidity, so as we live then things need to change and change now. I shouldn't have to look over my shoulder when I hold my boyfriend's hand in Compton, or kiss my husband in Atlanta, or hug my girlfriend in Dallas. I shouldn't have to be harassed at Gay Pride by idiots who think it's okay to miss church service to hold up signs saying 'G-d Hates Fags' and 'Homo sex is a sin'. There shouldn’t be protests at military funerals saying 'Fags Doom Nation'. But when it happens, when it is encouraged, then it's the hatred that dooms the nation.

Miss Polis and other transsexuals, homosexuals and lesbians shouldn’t have to live in fear in places that lynch people that aren’t blonde hair, blue eyed heterosexual Christians. We shouldn’t have to stay in our houses because we have a rainbow flag in our window and the torch wielding villagers are outside yelling 'Kill the monster!' And while I am on this notion of homophobia as the 11th plague, our OWN gay community needs to grow the fuck up and get over their 5th century fears of effeminate men.

How can we expect change if WE don't change. Posting words like 'no fats, no fems' when looking for a mate doesn’t make you a man, it makes you a punk. It shows how little you know about the people outside of your world and only by what you see on TV. People who say 'Men should act like men and not women' shows the self-hatred in themself because they fear someone might 'mistake' them as gay. Well, guess what honey, YOU ARE GAY. This Down Low life is just the gas station for homophobia to stop, fill up and get a coffee on the way.

Stop the hatred, both to yourself and to others. Change your mindset and then we can change the world. One gay at a time. One girl at time. One person at a time. Ken yehi ratzon: May it be G-d's will.